Egypt’s Defense and Military Production Minister Mohamed Zaki met with his French, Greek and Cypriot counterparts Florence Parly (photo), Panos Kammenos and Savvas Angelides, respectively, on the sidelines of the Egypt Defense Expo (EDEX 2018) taking place in Cairo from 03 to 05 December.
Zaki discussed the latest regional and international developments as well as enhancing military cooperation with the three countries, ahram online reported.
The Ministers hailed the well organized exhibition, which is considered one of the most important military events in the Middle East, stressing the depth of the historical ties between Egypt and the countries participating in the event.
Meanwhile, the Chief-of-Staff of the Egyptian Armed Forces Mohamed Farid met with the Chiefs-of-Staff of the Jordanian, Greek, and Saudi armed forces during their visit to EDEX 2018.
The meetings were attended by a number of top brass and the military delegations accompanying the Defense Ministers and Chiefs-of-Staff.
Speaking at the event’s opening ceremony, the Egyptian Defense Minister expressed his deep appreciation of President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi for sponsoring EDEX 2018, the first International Defense and Security Industry Exhibition in North and Central Africa, Egypt Today reported.
The Defense Minister said that President Sisi’s sponsorship of this exhibition aims at delivering a message to the world that the defense and armament systems are the main pillars of peace and security and the fortress of stability for nations and peoples.
Zaki also welcomed the participating delegates, adding that this international exhibition is a great opportunity for world countries and companies manufacturing defense and armament systems to present the leading-edge military technology, exchanging expertise and developing ties in the military production domain.
The inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and Mohamed Zaki, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Defense and Military Production as well as many other officials.
Furthermore, 10 Defense Ministries from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sudan, France, Greece, Cyprus, South Sudan, Cameroon, Somalia and South Korea attended the exhibition.
Organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Defense and Military Production, EDEX 2018 is expected to attract more than 10,000 visitors interested in the field of armaments and defense industries.
The exhibition hosts 373 international companies from 41 countries, including 42 U.S. companies, 37 French companies, 28 Chinese companies and 13 Russian companies.
Additionally, seven main arms departments from the United States, China, Russia, France, Germany, Italy and UAE will participate in the exhibition and several military authorities will give educational lectures on the sidelines of the exhibition.
As for the Egyptian pavilion in the exhibition, Egyptian military products, including arms and equipment jointly manufactured by the Armed Forces, the National Organization for Military Production (NOMP), and the Arab Organization for Industrialization (AOI) will be included in the exhibition.
