Contracts for 200 mln USD made during MILEX-2019
Last day of the 9th International Expo MILEX-2019 became the day of summing up and discussing the first conclusions about the work at the expo. Most important is that MILEX has turned into a serious military, political and economic event not only for Belarus, but also for the entire Eastern European region.
The same as in previous years, MILEX gathered the guests from 35 countries and its organizers made an effort to demonstrate that Belarus is developing its capacity in the defense industry besides other economic sectors.
The stands and outdoor expo presented wide range of products resulting from the policy of defense industry development implemented by the State Authority for Military Industry (SAMI), intellectual capacity and potential of the companies being the part of the SAMI that can create advanced products keeping up with the main tendencies of the world market of arms trade.
Very important is that each third item of military equipment and armament in the Belarusian expo was innovative and not by chance. Today, potential foreign customers are particularly interested in turnkey solutions concerning armament, military & special equipment that make use of advanced Belarusian developments and exclusive warfare concepts. This and the fact that Belarus adopts about 10 new models of military equipment and armament each year approves high level of science and technology of the defense companies. And the expo became another evidence for that.
For instance, the peculiarity of MILEX-2019 was the interest of the foreign delegations towards the solutions based on IT and software. As well, much attention was brought to robotized land and air platforms, combat systems against small air targets, small arms, systems of countermeasures against high-precision weapons, Air Defense systems, as well as capabilities of the Belarusian companies regarding overhaul and upgrade of aircraft and armored vehicles.
This year, about 170 national and foreign OEMs, R&D organizations, industrial and trade companies presented their products at MILEX-2019. The biggest exhibitions were made by Belarus (about 100 exhibitors), Russia that was represented by more than 40 leading defense companies, Kazakhstan (7 defense companies) and China – 3 companies. It was the first time for the companies from Serbia and South Africa, as well as for the Ministry of Defence Industry of Azerbaijan Republic to take part in the expo. The capabilities of the countries that participate in the Collective Security Treaty Organization were presented at a separate stand.
The visitors could see more than 4000 items. The total square of the expo was about 20 thousand sq. m. 59 official delegations from 35 countries visited the expo, including the delegations of Collective Security Treaty Organization and Standing Committee of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. The delegations from Bahrain, Bulgaria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Laos, Czech Republic and Eritrea visited the expo for the first time.
Within MILEX-2019, the State Authority for Military Industry carried out 41 meeting and negotiations with the leaders of official delegations from 26 countries; 336 meetings and negotiations together with the directors of the companies being a part of the SAMI with foreign partners from 52 countries. These meetings and negotiations helped to analyze the current state of affairs, define the perspective ways of cooperation in military & technical field, discuss the matters of developing the laws and regulations regarding the military & technical field. Besides, the foreign customers received technical and commercial offers on many products and the Belarusian part reached agreements on lots of matters of military & technical cooperation that would contribute to increase in the export of the Belarusian defense goods and extend the cooperation between Belarus and other countries in military & technical field. As well, the matters were discussed concerning the establishment of joint ventures in other countries.
Meaningful negotiations were held in the context of Belarusian and Russian R&D and technical cooperation that resulted in common agreement to continue the work on sustainable development of the cooperation and strengthen the relations between the defense companies of both the countries. The joint projects including those in the interest of the third countries are considered one of the most perspective directions to develop the military & technical cooperation between two countries.
In total, about 30 foreign trade contracts were made regarding armament and military & technical goods for approximately 200 mln USD (as of 18.05.2019) that confirms the financial success of the expo. Besides, 23 agreements and memorandums were concluded on the development of military & technical cooperation with other countries. This time MILEX expo was the biggest in terms of the number of the items exhibited and the delegations visited the expo.
Therefore, the 9th International Expo MILEX-2019 approves that the Belarusian defense industry keeps up with the world tendencies creating perspective and popular equipment and armament. This was a significant event for Belarus and it contributed to the international image of the country as the manufacturer and exporter of military goods and contributed to further development of military & technical cooperation.
