21.02.2025.
MoD, SAF delegation at IDEX 2025
At the invitation of the Ministry of Defence of the United Arab Emirates, a delegation from the Ministry of Defence and the Serbian Armed Forces visited Abu Dhabi’s 17th International Defence Exhibition "IDEX 2025" in the period from February 17 to 21.
Assistant Minister of Defence for Material Resources Nenad Miloradović, Ph.D., and Deputy Chief of the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff Lieutenant General Tiosav Janković led the MoD and SAF delegation, and representatives of the Military Technical Institute and numerous companies belonging to the Serbian Defence Industry Group attended the defence exhibition.A total of 1,560 exhibitors from 65 countries participated in IDEX 2025, with more than 150,000 visitors, some 15 % more than in the previous exhibition in 2023, which makes it one of the largest and most important international defence exhibitions in the world.
On the first day of the event, the Serbian manufacturers’ stand was visited by the President of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who, in a cordial and friendly conversation with Assistant Minister Miloradović, a great connoisseur of modern trends in the development of weapons and military equipment, saluted the progress of the Serbian Defence Industry and assessed positively the progress of ongoing and future joint cooperation projects. Dozens of new projects were proposed, and an analysis evaluating their feasibility was immediately started by the competent services of the UAE Armed Forces. On that occasion, it was stated that, based on experiences from ongoing conflicts around the world, the two presidents’ joint vision of the directions of development of modern weapons and military equipment had proven to be accurate.
Assistant Minister Miloradović also met with UAE’s Minister of State for Defense Affairs, Mohammad Mubarak Fadhel Al-Mazrouei, to whom potential projects aimed at joint development and production of weapons and military equipment were presented. The meeting also summarized the results of the implementation of the programme for joint investments in production technologies, as well as the expansion of production in Serbia and the transfer of technologies for defence manufacturing in the United Arab Emirates.Meetings were also held with representatives of the host country’s armed forces, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Major General Ahmad Bin Tahnoon Al Nahyan, and the Commander of the UAE Special Forces, Brigadier General Mohamed Al Meqbali. A meeting was also held with the General Manager & CEO of EDGE Group, Hamad Al Marar, with whom the industrial cooperation programme was discussed.
The visit to IDEX 2025 was an opportunity for our delegation to meet with officials of other partner countries, with which the Republic of Serbia and the Ministry of Defence foster close bilateral relations.
Meetings were held with defence ministers of Iraq - Thabet Al-Abbasi, Kazakhstan - Colonel-General Zhaksylykov Ruslan Fatihovich, Slovakia - Robert Kalinak, Montenegro - Dragan Krapović, Greece - Nicolaos Dendijas and Eswatini - Prince Sicalo Dlamini, Minister of the Defense Industry of Azerbaijan Vugar Mustafayev, Secretary of Defence Industries of Türkiye Haluk Görgün, Deputy Minister of Defense of Azerbaijan Agil Gurbanov, chiefs of General Staff of Bosnia and Herzegovina - Major General Gojko Knežević, and Nigeria - General Olufemi Oluyde, and the national armaments directors of France, Austria and Spain, with whom current and potential new forms of cooperation were discussed.A series of expert meetings and presentations were held with representatives of world-famous companies, discussing ongoing and future cooperation projects in the field of research, development and production of weapons and military equipment aimed at equipping the Serbian Armed Forces with modern weapons and military equipment.
During the defence exhibition, Assistant Minister Miloradović, on behalf of the Ministry of Defence of the Republic of Serbia, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the French company Thales LAS France SAS.The Serbian Defence Industry traditionally participates in UAE’s defence exhibition, where PE Jugoimport SDPR, an integrator and major exhibitor, presents our modern achievements and new products, which are recognized by the most eminent experts and partners worldwide. In addition to Jugoimport SDPR, the following representatives of defence industry factories also attended the exhibition: "Zastava Oružje", "Milan Blagojević Nameska", "Krušik" Holdco, "Prva Iskra Nameska Proizvodnja", "Sloboda", "Teleoptik-Žiroskopi", "Trajal" and "Ei-OPEK".
This year, too, the Serbian Defence Industry’s exhibition area aroused great interest among visitors and officials, and during the event, new contracts were concluded and numerous inter-industrial and commercial cooperation activities were arranged for the upcoming period.
PHOTOGALLERY
VIDEOGALLERY22.02.2025
mp4 (73,23 MB)International Defence Exhibition IDEX 2025
