Dr Marwan Asmar ,
“It would have been sinful to come to Jordan and not to see Petra,” said a South African executive at the recent Special Operations Exhibition (SOFEX) held in Amman and under the patronage of HM King Abdallah.
He was one of the 300 exhibitors that came to display his latest at the special operational and security exhibition that saw manufactures and service producers from at least 60 countries come and take part in this biannual event that took part between 31 March and 3 April 2008.
He was displaying his latest state-of-the-art military vehicle that his company makes in a top show and attended by brand names as Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and other international manufactures of tanks, missiles, helicopters, military vehicles, satellite intelligence, surveillance guns, rifles, pistols as well many others down the military scales like military uniforms, and food rations and of course military research.
The special operations and homeland security has become a very important event on the international calendar. Countries attending include USA, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey, China, Russia, South Africa, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, Pakistan, Poland, and India which suggests today the arms and weapons industry is no longer the preserve of the rich industrial north.
At 70,000 square meters in the King Abdallah I Air Base, the exhibition was the biggest of all the SOFEX Jordan editions since 1995. Exhibitors spoken to said this is a great event for introducing new equipments onto the world market.
“With the Middle East accounting for approximately 60 percent of the global defense expenditures, SOFEX 2008 has cemented its position as the world’s largest and the region’s only gathering of special operations, counter-terrorism and homeland security experts,” HRH Prince Faisal, chairman of the SOFEX Board, told the SOFEX Daily.
Delegates were booked in different Five-Star hotels in Amman and transported daily through especially arranged shuttle buses to and from the venue via Petra Tours—the Central Reservation Agency Contractor which also arranged for pre- and post tours of different sites of Jordan that included Petra and the Dead Sea, and which many delegates went on.
Many exhibitors were satisfied with the event, and said they would surely be coming back to SOFEX 2010, because this is were everyone in the business came.
For some of the few like the United States, Britain, and Turkey said they will be coming with more companies next time around, although the United States participated with 74 companies while Britain 31 and Turkey with 23. Turkey had already increased its space and participation by nine-fold this time round.
Britain stressed the special relationship with Jordan and different forms of cooperation, but this was the case with Russia which is building closer relations with the region through more arm sales.
Like other international military procurement exhibitions, SOFEX Jordan is building a name for itself as a premier special operations mart where people from different parts of the globe assembled in Jordan, came and discussed business for international security and operations as 300 officials, defense ministers, chiefs of staffs and top dignitaries came representing delegations from as diverse countries as Tanzania, Lebanon, Holland, Greece, and Croatia.
Although many deals were signed, it was Jordan that first made the move under the King Abdallah II Development and Design Bureau signing JD 70 million worth of agreements with many international companies on behalf of the Jordan Armed Forces that involved weaponry, vehicles, and food rations and catering.
Agreements on joint ventures were made with Brunei, Yemen and Malaysia as well as countries like the United States, Belgium, and Azerbaijan. A joint Jordanian-Belgian-American company was made for the manufacturing of live ammunitions and a RBG rocket-propelled Hashim rockets factory will be established in Jordan as part of a joint Jordanian-Russian venture.
Exhibitor-companies said SOFEX Jordan was important because it brought officials and executives representing international special operations and security systems together. Some said the importance of SOFEX, as it developed over the years, lay in the fact it brought decision-makers and manufactures together and made taking the decision over which type of equipment or hardware to buy or sell that much quicker.
There were special chalets at the exhibition compound that was especially allocated for different delegates, customers and manufactures to use. Greece was a first time participator in the military venue both as an official body and those from the private sector with views being heard their participation this time was an exercise in getting to know the nature of the exhibition and building a long-term relationship.
Finland was another first-time participator with an official from one communication company suggesting it was too early for him to have an opinion on the exhibition but different people were coming back and forth to his booth while at the same time pointing out that the level of decision-making was high which means that when deals are made they will be quickly implemented.
SOFEX is an up-and-coming exhibition in the region that is gaining greater weight each time it’s held. In the 2006 expo, 7500 people visited the show, and although final figures are still to be made, more than 10000 attendants are likely to be counted this time around from different parts of the globe which means a lot of networking was made over the four-day event inaugurated by a one-day conference in Amman that examined the state of security in the world.
Of course talked to different reactions were made that depended on what was on offer in terms of security and protection. An executive from one German company suggested SOFEX 2008 stressed the operational side of security, of weapons, where there needs to be greater emphasis on logistical communications as a means to improving security and creating the right stable environment.
Overall, SOFEX is proving that a greater culture of security is being built and made more aware of as dictated by the manufactures present and the type of clients coming to such fairs. For Jordan, SOFEX is increasingly being seen as the place were the international community meets and were touristic sites are being seen through the eyes of the different delegates and executives to take back home.
DefenceTalk.com thanks Dr. Marwan Asmar for contributing this article on SOFEX 2008.
