UAE firm shines at military show

In the middle of the world's best known tanks and models of the most advanced submarines and warships, a dozen of armoured vehicles are lined up neatly inside a massive stand at the international defence exhibition.

The vehicles, some of which are mounted with rockets or enormous machine guns, overshadowed most of the surrounding weapons and seem to be catching the attention of senior military delegates.

At a first glance, the massive vehicles could be mistakenly thought to be produced in the United States or other major arms makers. But such a thought is quickly dismissed by a mere look at the huge words on the top of the stand.

Bin Jabr Group, a major UAE company involved in many businesses, is the producer of those advanced armoured vehicles, which makers said they can compete with the most advanced vehicles of their type.

The vehicles are built in Jordan by Advanced Industries of Arabia (AIA), an affiliate of Bin Jabr, owned by Saeed bin Jabr Al Suwaidi, the former chairman of the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Production began in late 2007 and the sprawling plant in the Jordanian town of Zarka has the capacity to produce 1,000 vehicles per year. AIA has already won a major contract from the UAE for the supply of 500 armoured vehicles.

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