Commercial industry to make up half of LIMA '19 exhibitors

LANGKAWI: The next Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace (LIMA) exhibition planned to be held in 2019 will have more participation from the commercial industry, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein said today.
He said the defence industry formed a larger portion of the 555 exhibitors in LIMA '17 and he wanted the civilian industry to comprise at least 50 per cent of the total participants come LIMA '19.
"Moving LIMA into the commercial sector, the civil aviation (and maritime industry) is the right way forward," he told a press conference after visiting the exhibition at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre, here.
According to him, the defence industry players were now fighting for "a very limited global cake" as the market for military equipment had reached saturation point.
"We want to show to the world and maybe we can lead the way to say that it is not about war all the time. What we want to focus on now can be something constructive," he said.
Hishammuddin hoped that the new global players, particularly from the Middle East, would be taking part in the next LIMA.
With the recent announcement that the Royal Malaysian Navy would be training Saudi Arabian sailors on submarine operations, he hoped the result of this collaboration could be showcased in two years' time.
He said LIMA '17 which was launched last Tuesday by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak and came as the 14th edition to be organised since 1991 was a success beyond expectation.
He said amid the unpredictable global economic situation, the event had been able to draw the largest number of participation and could reach its target number of visitors of 180,000 by the end of the final day tomorrow.
"It is the largest participation from not only (the number of) those who attended so far but also the exhibitors, who have shown that they want to see LIMA to stay," he added. — Bernama