Specialised ROTORCRAFT Pavilion to be additional feature at IDEX 2005

The addition of this specialised pavilion will enable exhibitors to display actual hardware of different maritime, army and police helicopters. The Helicopter pavilion will be supported by the UAE Air Force and Air Defence, Special Operations Group.

'The flexibility, manoeuvrability and firepower that modern-day helicopters display make them an important component of a country's defence arsenal. As the premier defence exhibition that provides a gateway to the MENA market, IDEX has decided to introduce a specialised pavilion for Rotorcraft for its next edition - IDEX 2005. Our introduction of this specialised pavilion is in line with our constant focus to be receptive to the needs of the market, as well as the needs of our exhibitors and our mission to provide them the ideal platform to help them derive the maximum benefits from their presence at IDEX' said Mr. Mohammed Nabhani, Project Manager, IDEX 2005 adding that several companies had shown interest in the Rotorcraft pavilion.

'Already the response has been encouraging with demand for space coming in from Boeing, Bell, Agusta Westland, Rooivalk from South Africa and Rosoboronexport from Russia, among others' said Mr. Nabhani.

IDEX 2005 is organised by the General Exhibitions Corporation (GEC),12-17 February 2005 under the Patronage of H H Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, in association with the UAE Armed Forces. The previous edition of IDEX, which was held in Abu Dhabi in 2003 received over 30,000 visitors and had 825 exhibitors, from 45 countries from around the world.

IDEX will incorporate the Gulf Defence Conference, which is regarded in the international academic and military circles as a top forum on defence strategies and technologies, in association with Jane's Information Group.

The IDEX 2005 exhibition and conference is to take place at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition & Conference Centre (ADIEC) and is to be held in co-operation with several UAE government authorities, and will feature companies from all over the world who will display a wide range of defence and defence related products and services and the latest technologies in this domain.

The IDEX 2005 team is currently participating in SOFEX 2004 (Special Operations Forces Exhibition & Conference), Amman, Jordan until the 29th of April 2004 at the King Abdullah I Airbase, Marka, Amman, under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II. SOFEX is supported by the National Governmental and Non-governmental sectors within Jordan and is organised jointly by the Jordan Armed Forces and the General Exhibitions Corporation.

The IDEX 2005 team has already participated in several events this year - DefExpo, India, AAC4I '04, Singapore and DSA '04, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. IDEX's participation at SOFEX will be followed by HeliExpo, Florida, USA, ILA '04, Berlin, Germany, Eurosatory, Le Bourget, Paris, France and Farnborough '04, Farnborough, UK.