Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi on Monday inaugurated the first arms fair organised in Cairo, with hundreds of companies exhibiting.

Sisi cut the ribbon along with French Defence Minister Florence Parly to open Egypt Defence Expo (EDEX 2018), held on the outskirts of the capital.

Forty countries are represented at the three-day event in Egypt, one of the Middle East's top military powers, organisers said.

After the opening, Sisi was taken on a guided tour along with military officials of the massive fair, where according to authorities around 400 companies are exhibiting.

Among the items on display are US armoured personnel carriers, Indian and Saudi assault rifles, gold-plated firearms from Pakistan, and models of French-made Rafale fighter jets.

The show highlights the "strength of the country," said the Egyptian minister for military production, Mohamed al-Assar.

"We are exhibiting our products because Egypt's military production has its place on the world market," he told AFP.

The United States, a major ally of Egypt, has the largest number of foreign companies represented.

Defence Minister Mohamed Ahmed Zaki said Egypt was looking to strengthen its security capabilities.

"The army... seeks to acquire strength from its cooperation with countries that value security and peace to roll back all forms of aggression on Egyptian soil," he said at the opening ceremony.

He later held talks with his French counterpart and the Egyptian president, according to a statement from the Egyptian presidency.

President Sisi "underlined the deep strategic relations between Egypt and France and valued ongoing cooperation across various fields, especially military cooperation," said the statement.

During their meeting, Parly "affirmed the importance that France attaches to enhancing and strengthening partnership with Egypt at various levels, including the military and security levels," it added.

Military cooperation between Egypt and France has significantly increased since Sisi took office in 2014.

The following year Egypt signed deals worth six billion euros ($6.8 billion) to purchase 24 Rafale fighter jets from France, as well as other military hardware such as Mistral warships and missiles.

International human rights organisations have long accused Egypt of using weapons made in Europe against civilians to suppress opposition and activists, accusations Cairo has systemically denied.

aem/dv/hc

DASSAULT AVIATION

Related Links
The Military Industrial Complex at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Slovak government clashes over largest-ever arms purchase
Bratislava (AFP) Nov 30, 2018
Slovakia's prime minister clashed with the defence ministry on Friday over a deal to acquire US-made F-16 war planes in what is slated as the NATO member's biggest military purchase. The defence ministry announced Friday that it had concluded three agreements to buy 14 Lockheed Martin-made warplanes plus arms and training valued at 1.58 billion euros ($1.8 billion). Hours later, Prime Minister Peter Pellegrini issued a statement saying that the contracts were invalid because they had not been ap ... read more