The UAE Armed Forces awarded Dh20.5 billion (US$ 5.6 billion) worth of contracts during the five-day International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX 2019), beating figures achieved during the 2017 event.

“International defense companies won 65% of total contracts during the event that took place in Abu Dhabi from 17-21 March 2019,” General Mohammed Al Hassani, IDEX spokesman, said on Thursday. Local companies won the remaining 35%.

On day five, 14 contracts were signed, split evenly between international and local companies and worth Dh 402.8 million. The majority of the value was clinched by international companies, with the biggest contract of Dh129.6 million going to Russia’s Joint Stock Company.

The local companies’ share of contracts reached Dh135 million; major winners included the International Golden Group (IGG) with a Dh30 million contract and Knowledge Point with a Dh60 million contract.

The biggest single contract awarded during the event was a Dh5.73 billion (US$ 1.56 billion) deal related to the Patriot missile systems manufactured by Raytheon Company.

Also at IDEX, Tawazun, the body tasked with developing a home-grown defense industry, said its Defense and Security Development Fund and Industrial Park agreed to a new land lease program worth Dh200 million to assist local private small- to medium-sized enterprises in the defense sector through the development of 75,000 square meters of land.

The biennial event attracted a record number of exhibitors and participating countries.

The UAE had the biggest pavilion in terms of space, followed by the US, Germany, France, Italy and Saudi Arabia. The number of participating countries rose 9% to 62, while the number of exhibitors increased 6% to 1,310, with international companies accounting for 85% of participants.