The biennial event saw the participation of naval and coast guard commanders and defence officials from 44 countries and leading defence industrial groups worldwide.
As a regional leading exhibition for displaying naval equipment and technologies, the event also serves as a forum for participants to discuss maritime security-related issues.
As many as 230 companies from 29 countries are exhibiting and introducing products and technologies serving maritime defence at the three-day exhibition, including warships, military weapons, unmanned systems and naval network security solutions, among others.
In his opening speech, Singaporean Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen highlighted the importance of maritime trade for the Asian region, affirming that strengthened cooperation among countries will help ensure navigation security and safety in the region.
Singapore’s naval force is playing a vital role in fostering efforts to address regional maritime security threats through participating in joint patrols with Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand in the Straits of Malacca, as well as sharing information to support the regional effort to fight maritime terrorism.
By 2030, the whole Asia Pacific region will have more 800 warships, Ng Eng Hen quoted data of the AMI International - a UK firm that specialises in providing countless turnkey solutions for navigation and safety equipment.
He said regional countries should strengthen their naval power and multilateral cooperation to deal with new challenges at sea.
In the framework of IMDEX ASIA 2017, a series of relevant conferences were organized, including the 5th International Maritime Security Conference and the 3rd International Naval Engineering Conference, which focused on maritime security and updated latest technological trends for the naval field.
For the first time, a forum on network security for maritime trade activities was held, debating risks threatening modern navigation security and the possibility of cyber attacks on fishing ships with high value.
