Idex opens with bigger show of hardware and exhibitors

Mena region countries will be shopping this week for military hardware at the Middle East’s biggest defence exhibition, which takes place against a backdrop of falling oil revenues and the threats posed by ISIL militants and the Houthi movement in Yemen.

Everything from drones and fighter jets to guided missile systems will be on display at the International Defence Exhibition and Conference (Idex) in the capital from today, to counter such threats.

A total of 1,154 international and local exhibitors are at Idex this year, up from 1,112 in 2013, organisers said.

Forty-two countries have pavilions.

At the previous biennial event, about 80,000 visitors flocked to the arms expo.

Ivor Ichikowitz, the founder and executive chairman of Paramount Group, which is participating at Idex, said: “Africa and the Middle East are facing very similar threats from the likes of ISIL and Boko Haram to Al Shabaab. In the face of this growing global terrorism, defence budgets are being carefully scrutinised.”

Arabian Gulf countries, such as Saudi Arabia and UAE, that have amassed enough financial reserves will be able to ride out the tide of ebbing oil prices, according to analysts.

“With these reserves they will try to go through the storm,” said Pieter Wezeman, the senior researcher at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (Sipri). “They don’t have to start cutting defence budgets immediately. They can wait and see what happens in the oil price in the next few years.”

It comes as no surprise then that defence spending in the Mena region is expected to touch US$150 billion this year from $148bn in 2014 and $136bn in 2013, according to defence consultancy IHS Jane’s. Such spending has grown by an average of 10 per cent a year between 2012 and last year, according to IHS Jane’s.

According to Mr Ichikowitz, the defence budgets of GCC countries now accounts for about 83 per cent of overall military spending in the Middle East.

Saudi Arabia, which was among the world’s top four military spenders in 2013 with $67bn, according to Sipri, will remain so despite the oil price slump.

Saudi military spending in 2013 was equal to 9.3 per cent of its GDP, while the UAE ranked 15th globally, with $19bn worth of military spending.

“The Saudi government seems content with riding out a period of lower energy revenues and it certainly has the reserves to be able to do that,” said Craig Caffrey, a senior analyst for defence budgets at IHS Jane’s.

“Saudi Arabia has only reduced defence and security spending once in the past 15 years, so recent history certainly suggests that the budget is resilient to short term oil price shocks.”

The US is seeking to allocate $8.8bn of its 2016 budget to fight ISIL and help Iraq, while Iraq is expected to spend 20 per cent of its 2015 budget on defence.

“In Iraq, you see an increased requirement for both conventional and counter-insurgency systems and equipment, to include tactical gear and small arms, armoured and combat vehicles, and various ground support platforms – such as reconnaissance and attack aircraft,” said Aleksandar Jovovic, principal at the aerospace and defence consultancy Avascent.

“Elsewhere, for instance in the Emirati case, the primary tools are higher-end systems, so the UAE is likely to spend more on servicing and spares for their F-16s, as well as on precision-guided ammunition and other ordnance.”

Iraq, which had the biggest regional increase in military spending in 2013, according to Sipri, will have a hard time managing its resources to fight ISIL as it lacks enough financial cushion, unlike Saudi Arabia and the UAE, analysts said.

“The reduced income will have no impact on the mission to fight ISIL,” said Mustafa Alani, the senior adviser for the Geneva-based Gulf Research Center. “Money will be spent in this field without hesitation because it is a real threat and a strategic threat.”

The threat in the region from Iran has receded with the diplomatic push to strike a deal on a nuclear disarmament programme by June 30.

Meanwhile, William Cohen, the chairman and chief executive of Cohen Group and a former US defence secretary, said that Arabian Gulf states are now playing a more decisive and role in the region’s security.

The involvement of Saudi Arabia and the UAE joining the US and its allies in bombing ISIL positions in Syria is a case in point. “I think change comes about through adversary,” Mr Cohen said.

“I think this will push Gulf states to find ways to share more technology, techniques, and tactics and become a more effective force operating on a consensual basis.”

dalsaadi@thenational.ae

selgazzar@thenational.ae

Follow The National's Business section on Twitter

T20 World Cup Qualifier fixtures

Tuesday, October 29

Qualifier one, 2.10pm – Netherlands v UAE

Qualifier two, 7.30pm – Namibia v Oman

Wednesday, October 30

Qualifier three, 2.10pm – Scotland v loser of qualifier one

Qualifier four, 7.30pm – Hong Kong v loser of qualifier two

Thursday, October 31

Fifth-place playoff, 2.10pm – winner of qualifier three v winner of qualifier four

Friday, November 1

Semi-final one, 2.10pm – Ireland v winner of qualifier one

Semi-final two, 7.30pm – PNG v winner of qualifier two

Saturday, November 2

Third-place playoff, 2.10pm

Final, 7.30pm

England World Cup squad

Eoin Morgan (capt), Moeen Ali, Jofra Archer, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wkt), Tom Curran, Liam Dawson, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, James Vince, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood

'The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey'

Rating: 3/5

Directors: Ramin Bahrani, Debbie Allen, Hanelle Culpepper, Guillermo Navarro

Writers: Walter Mosley

Stars: Samuel L Jackson, Dominique Fishback, Walton Goggins

Lexus LX700h specs

Engine: 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 plus supplementary electric motor

Power: 464hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 790Nm from 2,000-3,600rpm

Transmission: 10-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 11.7L/100km

On sale: Now

Price: From Dh590,000

Company profile

Company name: Suraasa

Started: 2018

Founders: Rishabh Khanna, Ankit Khanna and Sahil Makker

Based: India, UAE and the UK

Industry: EdTech

Initial investment: More than $200,000 in seed funding

Western Region Asia Cup T20 Qualifier

Sun Feb 23 – Thu Feb 27, Al Amerat, Oman

The two finalists advance to the Asia qualifier in Malaysia in August

Group A

Bahrain, Maldives, Oman, Qatar

Group B

UAE, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia

Basquiat in Abu Dhabi

One of Basquiat’s paintings, the vibrant Cabra (1981–82), now hangs in Louvre Abu Dhabi temporarily, on loan from the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

The latter museum is not open physically, but has assembled a collection and puts together a series of events called Talking Art, such as this discussion, moderated by writer Chaedria LaBouvier.

It's something of a Basquiat season in Abu Dhabi at the moment. Last week, The Radiant Child, a documentary on Basquiat was shown at Manarat Al Saadiyat, and tonight (April 18) the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi is throwing the re-creation of a party tonight, of the legendary Canal Zone party thrown in 1979, which epitomised the collaborative scene of the time. It was at Canal Zone that Basquiat met prominent members of the art world and moved from unknown graffiti artist into someone in the spotlight.

“We’ve invited local resident arists, we’ll have spray cans at the ready,” says curator Maisa Al Qassemi of the Guggenheim Abu Dhabi.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi's Canal Zone Remix is at Manarat Al Saadiyat, Thursday April 18, from 8pm. Free entry to all. Basquiat's Cabra is on view at Louvre Abu Dhabi until October

The specs

Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8

Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm

Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm

Transmission: 8-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km

Price: Dh380,000

On sale: now

Indoor Cricket World Cup - Sept 16-20, Insportz, Dubai

Milestones on the road to union

1970

October 26: Bahrain withdraws from a proposal to create a federation of nine with the seven Trucial States and Qatar.

December: Ahmed Al Suwaidi visits New York to discuss potential UN membership.

1971

March 1: Alex Douglas Hume, Conservative foreign secretary confirms that Britain will leave the Gulf and “strongly supports” the creation of a Union of Arab Emirates.

July 12: Historic meeting at which Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid make a binding agreement to create what will become the UAE.

July 18: It is announced that the UAE will be formed from six emirates, with a proposed constitution signed. RAK is not yet part of the agreement.

August 6: The fifth anniversary of Sheikh Zayed becoming Ruler of Abu Dhabi, with official celebrations deferred until later in the year.

August 15: Bahrain becomes independent.

September 3: Qatar becomes independent.

November 23-25: Meeting with Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Rashid and senior British officials to fix December 2 as date of creation of the UAE.

November 29: At 5.30pm Iranian forces seize the Greater and Lesser Tunbs by force.

November 30: Despite a power sharing agreement, Tehran takes full control of Abu Musa.

November 31: UK officials visit all six participating Emirates to formally end the Trucial States treaties

December 2: 11am, Dubai. New Supreme Council formally elects Sheikh Zayed as President. Treaty of Friendship signed with the UK. 11.30am. Flag raising ceremony at Union House and Al Manhal Palace in Abu Dhabi witnessed by Sheikh Khalifa, then Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 6: Arab League formally admits the UAE. The first British Ambassador presents his credentials to Sheikh Zayed.

December 9: UAE joins the United Nations.