BRIDEX makes second appearance

HOST country Brunei Darussalam is welcoming once again foreign delegates and exhibitors from over 40 countries to the second edition of the Brunei International Defence Exhibition and Conference (BRIDEX 2009) that is being held from August 12 to 15.

Similar to other regional defence exhibitions such as the Singapore Airshow, Malaysia's Langkawi International Maritime and Airshow (LIMA) and Defence Services Asia (DSA), BRIDEX 2009 is expected "to serve as an excellent platform for building vital alliances, forging partnerships and capturing new business opportunities in a fast growing Southeast Asian region, as well as for networking, sharing ideas and knowledge". This is in addition to showcasing a range of advanced technology to senior officials and decision-makers of the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF), Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), Royal Customs and Excise, Immigration and National Registration, National Disaster Management Centre and other government agencies.

Many industry observers say that BRIDEX would benefit Brunei as it serves as a window to view the latest state-of-the-art solutions and expertise in land, naval and aerospace systems available in the market today. Although many critics have said that defence exhibitions are an excuse for countries to dive into an arms race, yet it has benefited many armed forces around the region that are in need of replacing their obsolete defence equipment and systems. One should note that defence equipment bought in the 1970s and 1980s would put an armed forces in a disadvantage when confronting international terrorists who are IT savvy and have ample knowledge on the use of C4I (Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence).

In addition, a prestigious event such as BRIDEX would also put Brunei in the world map as well as in the world's defence industry calendar of events. Another advantage to the staging of BRIDEX is that the economic spin-off to airlines, hotels, transportation, tourism and other support industries is huge. It was reported that BRIDEX 2007 have raked in between $3 million to $5 million for the support industry.

As mentioned by its organisers Royal Brunei Technical Services (RBTS), the staging of BRIDEX 2009 which is billed as "the region's premier defence exhibition" is timely. As highlighted in His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam's titah during the Royal Brunei Armed Forces (RBAF) 48th Anniversary, there is a need for the Ministry of Defence together with the RBAF to look into producing a new Defence White Paper which will strategically focus on countering these non-traditional threats. As pointed out by current global situation, traditional security problems are still there; but yet non-traditional security problems such as the threat to economic, monetary, information and environmental security are growing increasingly assertive; threats posed by terrorism, extremism and separatism are on the rise; proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is gaining speed; diseases, outbreaks in hot-spot areas are intensifying.

Since its establishment, many changes and improvements has transformed the RBAF from a conventional armed forces to a defence entity that is capable of contributing to the nation's development and sovereignty as well as to international peace and security through peace keeping missions, disaster relief operations and humanitarian aid in other countries.

And one should note that this is where BRIDEX can serve its purpose in allowing the RBAF and other government security agencies to view equipment and systems that would assist them in discharging their duties to safeguarding the country against non-traditional security threats.