Milipol Qatar – the Middle East’s most influential trade exhibition dedicated to internal State security – will take place this October in Qatar.

The event’s organizers have announced that online registration for delegations and visitors from the United Arab Emirates is now open.

This is the ninth edition of the biennial exhibition which debuted in 1996, and this year’s event takes place from October 8 to 10 at the Doha Exhibition Centre. Exhibitors, delegations and guests from all over the world will convene in the Qatari capital for the three-day event.

Online registration is now open; visitors can pre-register and receive their electronic badge through the “Visitors Pre-Registration” section on the website (www.milipolqatar.com)

Co-organized by the Ministry of Interior of Qatar and the France-based Milipol organization, Milipol Qatar is the technological showcase for innovative products and services in the public and industrial security sector worldwide, and for companies from around the world wishing to develop their business in and around the Gulf region.

The internal security industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom in the Middle East, with record and increasing sums being spent in the sector. The fastest-growing local market is that of Qatar, which is undertaking a raft of new infrastructure developments. These include the stadiums and affiliated structures required for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, as well as the extensive transport programs to deliver a Qatar metro, and the “Qrail” domestic railway system to link the country from top to bottom.

The growth in the sector both in Qatar and elsewhere in the Middle East makes this a multi-billion dollar industry and this is what has attracted exhibitors from numerous countries – both regional and international – to Milipol Qatar 2012. Despite there being five months until the event proper, several companies have been quick to sign up for Milipol, with local representation coming from the likes of Kuwait’s Al-Bury Company, Oman’s Oman Textile Mills Company, and Morse Middle East, Motorola Solutions and Stratign FZCO, all from the UAE.

International presence at the exhibition comes from Germany, Italy, the UK, Russia, the US and France, among others, with big-hitting companies such as Renault Trucks, Thales, Cassidian, Selex and Gamma Group ready to make their presence felt.

Michael Weatherseed , Director, Security Events at EDS Milipol, commented, “As the premier internal security exhibition in the region, it was a straightforward decision for  the UAE-based companies Morse Middle East, Motorola Solutions and Stratign FZCO to exhibit at Milipol, and to show the internal security industry their own levels of expertise in this area. Internal security is a huge growth industry in this region and it’s vital to those companies’ development that they exploit the opportunities that Milipol presents, and make sure they get a piece of this growing market.”

While Milipol Qatar exhibits every other year, it is far from being a “stand alone” event, with business being done and contracts awarded all year round. In the run up to this year’s exhibition, for example, the Qatari Ministry of Interior recently awarded a contract for the supply of 108 Land Cruiser vehicles for patrolling purposes to a local company.