10.04 AM Tuesday, 19 March 2024
  • City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
  • Dubai 05:07 06:20 12:29 15:54 18:33 19:47
19 March 2024

Security expo closes with mega contracts

Published
By Nissar Hoath

The country’s first homeland security exhibition and conference hosted by the UAE Ministry of Interior has concluded with two major contract announcements worth billions of dirhams and a promise for a bigger event in 2009.

The International Security and National Resilience Exhibition and Conference, which closed yesterday, witnessed two major contracts from the UAE Armed Forces and Abu Dhabi Government to acquire security solutions for the country’s strategic assets and borders.

The first announcement at the exhibition, worth Dh271 million with the UAE Armed Forces, came from Abu Dhabi-based Advanced Integrated Systems (AIS) on Monday, while the second was announced by the Critical National Infrastructural Authority (CNIA), an entity established last year to provide security solutions for Abu Dhabi Government’s strategic assets.

In addition to these two contracts, Emirates Business reported two homeland security contracts, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, awarded by the UAE Armed Forces to a group of participating companies, lead by Asia Global Technologies (AGT). According to industry sources at the exhibition, the UAE Government will invest billions of dirhams, close to Dh10 billion, on homeland security within the next 10 years.

Mainly supervised and controlled by the Armed Forces, the security network includes control of the land borders with advanced integrated technologies, security solutions for critical and strategic assets and the coastlines, as well as air and sea ports.On Tuesday, CNIA announced its first project worth Dh3bn.

The project called Dera, which means shield, was announced following an agreement with AGT and its partner Advanced Integrated Systems (AGT/AIS) – multinational homeland security solution providers operating from their Zurich and Abu Dhabi centres. The contract will enable co-operation between the two organisations to develop new techniques, programmes and specialised devices to support security and offer economic stability of assets and the emirate.

“This is CNIA’s first investment and project. It will cover a period of three years, which means the entire project will be operational within three years from now with this investment of Dh3bn,” said Staff Colonel Muhair Ali Al Khatiri, general manager of CNIA.

He said the CNIA is responsible for providing security solutions for Abu Dhabi Government’s critical offshore and onshore assets, such as oil and gas fields and power and water installations, as well as other strategic buildings.