Proving its worth as a truly international trade fair and leading exhibition in its field, the 16th and largest ever edition of Intersec recently concluded in Dubai. With 1,213 exhibitors from 54 countries and having welcomed 24,853 trade visitors from 131 countries, Intersec is on the map as the most international show of its kind in the world.* The top five visiting countries were Saudi Arabia, Iran, Oman, Qatar and India.
Spread out across 9 halls, Intersec 2014 got underway with an opening ceremony presided over by chief guest HH Sheikh Mansoor bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. HH Sheikh Mansoor later toured the exhibition extensively, accompanied by Major General Khamis Al Mazeina, General Commander of Dubai Police. The opening delegation was joined by senior government authorities and a particularly strong representation from Dubai Police, Dubai Police Academy and UAE Civil Defence, along with organiser, Epoc Messe Frankfurt.
Ahmed Pauwels, CEO of Epoc Messe Frankfurt commented on the success of Intersec, stating: “This region continues to be one of the most exciting markets for the safety, security and fire protection industries and this is reflected in the growth of Intersec. The exhibition enjoyed pro-active business activity by authorities from across the region as well as governmental support from the UK, Germany and Italy, to name but a few.”
“It has been growing from strength to strength in recent years, but after the major success of this most recent edition we can well and truly say that Intersec is an essential trade exhibition for the international security fraternity.”
Encompassing four key focus areas: Commercial & Information Security; Safety & Health; Fire & Rescue and Homeland Security & Policing, Intersec 2014 attracted a wide representation of international exhibitors and trade visitors from the safety, security and fire protection industries.
Commercial & Information Security
A significant section at Intersec which attracts the largest number of exhibitors is the Commercial & Information Security section. This year it featured 15% more exhibitors than the previous edition with some key areas of interest for visitors being the integration of security systems into one platform and the continuous migration from analog to digital.
Exhibitors within the Commercial Security section included some of the world’s largest security players, who all consider Intersec a must attend exhibition in their annual sales cycle. Tarek Ismail, Director of Sales, Middle East for Tyco Security Products, said: “Intersec is a great show, growing every year, where we meet our VIP customers and showcase the top latest technology.” Furthermore, Martin Cowley, Channel Manager of IDIS, stated: “Intersec is a fantastic show for us because it brings together the whole security buying chain in a way that few other security shows can,” and Erika Görge, Bosch, said: “For us it is a great success. It is an absolute must for Bosch to be here at Intersec.”
Also commenting on Intersec’s global stance was Marwan Khoury, Marketing Manager, Middle East & Africa for Axis Communications. He stated: ‘We are seeing tremendous growth at Intersec, not just from the security market, but from the other markets coming in as well, especially the end customers. We hope to be a part of Intersec for years to come, not just as an important trade show in the Middle East, but on a global level as well.”
Charito Aguada from first time exhibitor Oracle, stated: “We met many clients from the government such as Dubai Police and delegates from Saudi Arabia. We are happy to be part of Intersec and next year we will participate again.” Furthermore, Darren Chalmers-Stevens, Vice-President, EMEA for regular exhibitor VidSys, said: “As a result of the last couple of years of attending Intersec we have been able to increase our market share in the region. A big win for us at the show is with Bank Al Jazeera – the largest bank in Saudi Arabia. We will be integrating their 400 locations onto one platform at their Jeddah headquarters which is a first of its kind in this region.”
Fire & Rescue
Enjoying 31% growth in the number of exhibitors participating, the Fire & Rescue section at Intersec has been expanding rapidly in recent years. Highlighting the show’s worth was Khalid Al-Khatib, CEO at Naffco, the 3rd largest company of its kind in the world. He stated: “Intersec is one of the biggest exhibitions for fire and safety worldwide. Every year here we meet new customers coming from all over the world.”
Furthermore, Dubai Civil Defence, who participated as both key exhibitors and visitors at the exhibition, launched a state of the art alert system through the show. Lt. Col. Jamal Ahmad Ibrahim, Director of Preventative Safety Department, explained the benefits of this new launch, stating: “We have a new system now for intelligent in-house safety which can connect to private villas. If there is a fire you simply press a button and we will receive all the required information.”
Safety & Health
Exhibitors within the Safety & Health section which enjoyed a 25% increase in the number of companies participating since last year, also reported a successful exhibition. Steve Shale, Marketing Manager for Globus EMEA FZE, hand protection experts and first time exhibitors commented on Intersec’s worth for raising awareness on their regional presence. “We have recently launched in the GCC and so participating at Intersec was crucial for creating awareness about our portfolio. We have been pleased with the quality and quantity of visitors to the exhibition.”
Having started a deal with Abu Dhabi Civil Defence through the exhibition, Dr. Udaya Bhanu, T.K. President of Marketing for Karam Safety intends to double his stand size in 2015. He said: “Intersec is a place where we can really showcase our products to the world in an innovative way. We’ve made a lot of deals through Intersec – we are finalising a distributorship for Yemen and Jordan through the show. We have also had huge interest from Abu Dhabi Civil Defence who found our flame resistant harnesses which they have not been able to source previously.”
Homeland Security & Policing
The fastest growing section at the exhibition, this year Homeland Security & Policing enjoyed a 32% growth in exhibitor numbers with many first time exhibitors taking the opportunity to participate. A specialised sector, companies within the Homeland Security & Policing section were surprised by the target audience which the exhibition brought to their stands.
One of the first time exhibitors within Homeland Security & Policing was headline sponsor Arkan Security Management Solutions, a subsidiary of Ejadah Asset Management Group. Arkan appreciated the exhibition as a base for showcasing their products and services and plan to return again in 2015. Aida Hamza, from Arkan Security Solutions, commented: “It’s a great event for showcasing our security solutions where we can provide and show people what kind of services we have.”
Julien Revel, Regional Sales Representative for Safran/Morpho, listed as one of the world’s largest security companies, stated: “Intersec is a specialised show and for Safran it is a good opportunity to promote our products and interact with clients. Intersec is also of great importance for the company’s image and we have been delighted to meet with system integrators that matter to our business.”
Conference Series
Also taking place alongside Intersec was a series of successful conferences and seminars covering many key areas. This included the IOSH ME Occupational Health Seminar, the Techtextil Middle East Symposium, the Safety Design in Buildings Conference, the Mobile Phone Crimes Conference and the International Water Mist Association Seminar.
“We have made an interesting and promosing first step into this region. The first Techtextil Middle East Symposium and the Techtextil Pavilion @ Intersec 2014, both integrated in the 16th edition of Intersec, received a positive resonance by the exhibitors and the participants of the symposium. 17 companies from 10 countries and 14 speakers from 7 countries created an international information platform for technical textiles and related technologies not only for safety, health and protection, but also many other industries. Based on the positive experiences and feedbacks we will come back next year,“ said Michael Jaenecke, Director Brand Management Technical Textiles & Textile Processing, Messe Frankfurt Exhibition GmbH, Germany.
With eleven events, Messe Frankfurt is one of the world’s leading organisers of fairs and congresses for the expanding international field of safety and security technology. Eight trade fairs and three high-grade congresses in Germany, Asia, the Middle East and South America provide optimum opportunities for gaining a foothold in these dynamic growth markets.
Further information at: www.intersec.messefrankfurt.com.
*Preliminary figures, January 2014
Find all SecurityNewsDesk’s exclusive news and video coverage of Intersec 2014 here.
