The 7th edition of the Doha International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference (DIMDEX), which will be held in 2020, is expected to be the largest of all the editions of the show held so far. Increasing the importance of the event is the fact that it will be held in the backdrop of Qatar’s dramatic and expensive military modernisation effort.

Daily News spoke with Staff Brigadier. (SEA) Abdulbaqi S. Al-Ansari, Chairman DIMDEX, on the sidelines of IMDEX Asia. “We are very confident about DIMDEX 2020 as we have already sold-out about 80 percent of our show space, which is a very good sign,” said Brigadier Al-Ansari. “DIMDEX is organised by Qatar’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) but companies participating at the show deal directly with us. This is a good thing for companies that are looking to sell their products in Qatar. DIMDEX will be held over three days. We will also have the Middle East Commanders Conference during the next edition.” “Qatar now also has its own defence industry and DIMDEX is used as a platform to showcase our defence industry,” said Brigadier Al-Ansari. “A good example is Barzan Holdings, which is doing a great job of bringing technology into Qatar and growing our industry here.”

The decision to organize DIMDEX was made not just to promote Qatar as a destination for such large events but also to showcase the latest technology for the country’s military, said Brigadier Al-Ansari. “We launched the show here at IMDEX in 2007. We started strongly; the inaugural show had around 80 exhibitors, which was quite good for an event in its first year. We depended on the industry from outside Qatar as our industry at that time was quite small.”

The 2018 edition of DIMDEX, which was also the show’s 10th anniversary, saw participation from over 180 exhibiting companies, across an area of 30,000 sq metres. “We proved that the blockade did not affect us,” Brigadier Al-Ansari says.

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