IDEX-NAVDEX 2025

Inaugurated on Monday 17 February 2025 by His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and by His Highness Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defence, the 17th edition of the International Defence Exhibition, IDEX in short, and the 8th edition of the the Naval Defence and Maritime Security Exhibition, NAVDEX, saw the participation of a record number of exhibitors, 1,565 in total, representing 65 countries, with a 16% increase over the 2023 edition. To host all those stands the exhibition space was expanded to 181,501 square metres, a 14^th hall being added, which hosted 341 exhibitors.

During the exhibition Tawazun Council, the authority responsible for managing acquisitions, procurement, and contracts on behalf of the Ministry of Defense and security agencies, announced 55 deals, with a total value of AED 25.15 billion, which marked a 10% growth compared to the 2023 edition. These contracts were filed with national as well as international companies.

Beside all western major defence companies, IDEX hosted a considerable presence of Ukrainian and Russian exhibitors, in quite distant locations, the Chinese presence being also pretty strong as usual. But the dominant presence was that of UAE companies, EDGE Group occupying by far the greatest surface inside the exhibition building, while other such Calidus dominated the outside area. According to data provided by the organisers the number of visitors increased to 206,073, marking a 55.5% growth compared to the previous edition, international visitors accounting for 57% from 167 countries, while 43% were local visitors.

The next edition of the IDEX/NAVDEX is scheduled to take place from 25 to 29 January 2027, and according to organisers 70% of the exhibition space for the next edition has already been pre-booked.

Herafter EDR On-Line readers will find the articles from our Editorial team present at the Abu Dhabi exhibition. (More to come …)