BRIDEX 2011

Written by Delwin Keasberry Saturday, 09 July 2011 00:00

Greetings Readers! It was my first time at the Brunei International Defense Exhibition ~ BRIDEX 2011. At the official opening ceremony on Wednesday 6th July 2011, there was a spectacular air and land demonstration, and as part of the media I was privy to the first walks around through the BRIDEX halls. There were guns, missiles, heavy-armoured vehicles, etc on display. International high-ranking defense personnel rubbed shoulders, global conglomerates mingled, and members from the media scrambled for vantage points of the VVIPs. I honestly felt like a little boy in a huge playground. I mean, I have played games like Call of Duty but never have I been this close to so many real defense-and-combat-type things. I was very impressed.

In case you are not familiar with the BRIDEX, here an overview from their official website:

The Brunei International Defence Exhibition (BRIDEX) is the premier defense & security event in South East Asia. It brings together the world's leading manufacturers and suppliers of defense & security equipment and systems from across the entire supply chain, and high level international government and defense & security officials, providing them with a unique experience in business facilitation. BRIDEX serves as an exclusive marketplace to showcase the latest, innovative and value-enhancing technology solutions in land, sea, air and security systems to address the wide spectrum of security challenges being faced by countries in the region and around the world. BRIDEX also provides an excellent platform for building vital alliances, forging partnerships and capturing new business opportunities in a fast growing South East Asian region, as well as for networking, sharing ideas and knowledge, discussing technology advancements and industry developments. 

I visited the BRIDEX 2011 again on Friday 8th July 2011 with the intention of speaking to some of the exhibitors. I spoke with Daniel Lam, Vice President of International Marketing from ST Engineering who outlined their air-land-sea systems. Ferdinand Mulhens, Managing Director from Lurssen Asia spoke about their yachts and naval vessels. Richard Mears, Director of Business Development from Northrop Grumman spoke about their partnerships in the ASEAN region. I also spoke to Hajah Hasnah Hj Azri, General Manager and Nadzri Haji Harif, Corporate Affairs Officer from ILM Academy who outlined that the ILM Academy was a government linked organisation that provided learning solutions focusing on information and communication technologies. The doors of the BRIDEX 2011 was also opened to the general public on that date.

Kudos to the team at the Royal Brunei Technical Services for the hard work put into organising the Brunei International Defense Exhibition 2011.