Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition, ADEX, was displayed at one of the world's largest international land and airland defense and security exhibitions -- Eurosatory.

Held in the French capital Paris from June 13 to 17, the exhibition brought together 1,572 exhibitors from 56 countries.

Caspian Event Organizers (CEO), the organizer of the ADEX exhibition, was the first company from Azerbaijan to participate in Eurosatory in its long history.

The Manager of the ADEX exhibition, Ulker Gasimova, noted that the debut participation of ADEX at the Eurosatory exhibition was a huge success.

“Our team was very happy to see the Azerbaijani flag flown among those of the other participating countries. The visitors to the exhibition showed great interest in Azerbaijan and in the ADEX exhibition. There were a lot of useful meetings and negotiations about the participation in ADEX in Azerbaijan. Some 15 to 20 meetings were held daily, and the exhibition brochure was in great demand. We were also able to meet with exhibitors from ADEX 2014 and with this year's exhibitors who are already actively preparing for their arrival in Baku. Now, we will take the Eurosatory stand on the ADEX 2016 exhibition at the Baku Expo Center to be held on September 27-30,” she said.

Since 2009, the Defense Industry Ministry has demonstrated its products at international exhibitions and now the ministry is preparing for the second Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition "ADEX-2016" to be held in Baku. More than 100 international companies have passed registration to participate at the exhibition.

The Azerbaijani Army is one of the strongest, most highly-disciplined armies in the world and the leading in the region. It is equipped with new high-quality weapons made by domestic and foreign military-industrial systems.

Azerbaijan’s expanded military budget has lifted it to the top among its neighbors in the South Caucasus.

The country manufactures the Istiglal sniper rifle, Mubariz rifle, Orbiter-2M unmanned intelligence drones, Gurza armored patrol car, "Matador" and "Marauder" armored vehicles, anti-tank mines, etc.

Last year, the Defense Industry Ministry accomplished work over the creation of night vision devices, prismatic binoculars with a compass, mine fuses of different types and organized their production.

Azerbaijan, which is in war with neighboring Armenia over the latter's territorial claims during more than 20 years, keeps in focus the armament, working closely with leading companies and firms in various fields of military industry.

Azerbaijan’s military budget for 2016 is about $1.466 billion. The country's military budget exceeds the overall state budget of occupant Armenia by more than $1 billion.

Azerbaijan, leaves behind many CIS and regional countries to take its place among the first 70 strongest militaries of the world, according to the US-based Global Firepower survey center.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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