IDEAS 2022- An ode to Pakistan's defence industry

REPORT BY KAUSAR FATIMA: The defence industry of Pakistan has taken great strides in the last many decades and it has become a credible player in this very competitive field of activity.

This sector has been effectively improving its wherewithal along with increasing its contact base and has now reached a point where it confidently demonstrates the results of its endeavours inviting regional and international observers to witness them.

M.Khalid Yousaf – CEO Armored Vehicles Pakistan Pvt Ltd Participates at IDEAS 2022. participates at IDEAS 2022.

IDEAS Pakistan is live from 15th – 18th November 2022 at Expo Centre, Karachi.#IDEASExhibitionPakistan #IDEAS2022 #ArmsForPeace #BadarExpoSolutions #BXSS pic.twitter.com/lmFpIFtGdY

— IDEAS Exhibition Pakistan (@IDEASPakistan) November 16, 2022

In this context, the 11th edition of International Defence Exhibition and Seminar (IDEAS)-2022 took place from 15 to 18 November this year at the Karachi Expo Centre that was widely attended and highly appreciated.

It was rated as a strategically important event and preparations for it were comprehensively undertaken under all concerned institutions and gave instructions that were effectively followed including the traffic plan.

The defence exhibition, which was first held in 2000, is biennially organised by the Defence Export Promotion Organisation (DEPO) but owing to the global pandemic and consequent restrictions it could not be held in 2020 and this time it was held after a gap of four years.

The previous defence exhibition held at the same venue was in 2018. As is the tradition of the usually biannual event since the year 2000, IDEAS 2022 showcased a number of splendid activities encompassing world’s advance defence technology demonstrations, international seminars, the IDEAS Karachi Air Show, networking, and business expansions through Business-to-Business and Business-to-Government engagements.

It brought together defence industries from across the globe to showcase their latest technological innovations. A large number of senior civil and military delegations and trade visitors also attended the event.

Since its inception, IDEAS has emerged as an international rendezvous of defence manufacturers, entrepreneurs, research and development specialist, financial experts and top level policy makers to promote cooperation, knowledge sharing and support ventures in the field of defence collaboration, a statement said, adding that IDEAS is the event that brings together the global defence industry for synergistic businesses and cooperation.

MP-5A2, POF-4 and MP-5 P3 at Pakistan Ordnance Factories Pavilion 🇵🇰 pic.twitter.com/wEBp4Vwpkr

— Global Defense Insight (@Defense_Talks) November 17, 2022

The successful conduct of all editions of IDEAS is attributed to overwhelming support of government departments, armed forces of Pakistan, public/private defence industry, trade bodies and to the people of Karachi.

The hosting of the 11th edition of IDEAS was a testimony to the country’s pledge for encouraging technological growth and exchange. It is mentioned that the event will significantly contribute towards fostering and promoting Pakistan’s strategic relations with the international fraternity and it will serve to achieve the shared objectives of global peace, stability and balance.

In a briefing given by DEPO it was mentioned that it was a challenge holding the mega defence show after the devastation caused due to the floods here but the exhibition will help Pakistan’s economy as it will aid Pakistan’s export growth and IDEAS has always been a platform for local and foreign exhibitors to showcase their technology innovations. In this context Pakistan’s defence industry displayed and also unveiled many of its products.

Khalid Mehmood Sadhra – CEO Metasco international (@Metasco) Participates at IDEAS 2022.

IDEAS Pakistan is live from 15th – 18th November 2022 at Expo Centre, Karachi.#IDEASExhibitionPakistan #IDEAS2022 #ArmsForPeace #BadarExpoSolutions #BXSS pic.twitter.com/KNHBiSVoqe

— IDEAS Exhibition Pakistan (@IDEASPakistan) November 16, 2022

It was mentioned that for the first time, the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry also managed to pull in the local defence industry from Peshawar, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Lahore and Karachi to network and take their leap from IDEAS 2022.

It was also pointed out that the 10th edition of IDEAS in 2018 had some 45 countries exhibiting their products and this year that number grew to 64. It was mentioned that IDEAS 2022 surpassed all previous milestones in terms of space, booking, exhibitors and delegates both domestic and foreign.

The Karachi Expo Centre was booked to its full capacity with more than 500 exhibitors from Turkiye, China, North America, South America, Europe, Asia and the Far East out of which 60 per cent were international and 40 per cent were local. Besides trade visitors, more than 285 high-level delegates from 64 countries were visiting the exhibition.

Though Russia did not attend IDEAS 2022 as an exhibitor this time but they had a presence in the form of a delegation. Meanwhile, there were new entrants from several European countries including Austria, Romania and Hungary.

Turkish companies were also growing exponentially all over the world and this time they booked two complete halls for showcasing their products while China had one complete hall. Overall there were nine exhibition halls for IDEAS 2022 at the Karachi Expo Centre.

After a grand inauguration ceremony on 15 November the first two days of IDEAS 2022 were earmarked for delegations, trade visitors and networking activities. The other highlights included an international seminar on ‘Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the Defence Market; A Paradigm Shift in Military Strategy and National Security’ where renowned national and international subject matter experts presented their scholarly papers on the topic. To mark the 11th edition of IDEAS 2022, the Ministry of Pakistan Postal Services issued a commemorative postal stamp of Rs.20.