Milipol Qatar announces new October dates for 2012 exhibition

Milipol Qatar - the region's most influential trade exhibition dedicated to internal State security - has announced a change of dates for its 2012 event at Doha Exhibition Centre, the ‘9th International Exhibition of Internal State Security'.

Qatar has recently been appointed as host country for COP 18, the United Nations' summit on climate change. This summit will take place in Doha from 26 November to 7 December 2012 and will welcome 20,000 participants from around the world. In order to ensure that key officials from Qatar's security forces are available and that also there are sufficient hotel rooms vacant in Doha for participants, Milipol Qatar 2012 has been pulled forward to 8-10 October.

Milipol Qatar, co-organised by the Ministry of Interior of Qatar and the France based Milipol organisation since 1996, welcomes every two years industry professionals from the Middle East, Near East and Asia. A leading international event, Milipol Qatar is the technological showcase for innovative products and services in the public and industrial security sector worldwide, and for companies from around the world wishing to develop their business in and around the Middle East.

The exhibition in 2010 attracted more than 5,500 visitors - from 61 countries - to the stands of 222 exhibitors from all over the world. Participating exhibitors for the event in October are still being finalised - and new, interested parties being contacted on an ongoing basis - but four main themes have been established as being particularly relevant at this time, and these will form the basis of the focus of Milipol Qatar 2012.
These themes are: Protection of Industrial and sensitive sites, Law enforcement and crowd management, Border control and management, and ongoing efforts in counter-terrorism.

Milipol Qatar 2010 had an extremely high level of exhibitor satisfaction with 84% of exhibitors telling they intend to participate this coming October. The reason exhibitors were so satisfied is because Milipol Qatar is able to attract the right kind of delegates to this event. In 2010, 82% of visitors had a role in the purchasing process of their company, which is the sort of figure that would excite any exhibitor.

As for the delegates themselves, just under 90% said they were satisfied with their 2010 visit and the same percentage intends to join Milipol Qatar 2012 in October also. Qatar has a huge infrastructure development programme going on right now and the economy is booming. Up to $75 billion is earmarked for new infrastructure, public facilities, sports facilities - the 2022 World Cup, of course - communications and transportation. All of these have security-related requirements.

Internal State and private security opportunities exist in Qatar, as is evident, but they also exist across the Middle East as a whole, where the market continues to grow strongly. For these reasons - and many more - Milipol Qatar 2012 is going to prove the most productive and successful event of its type anywhere in the region.

Developments leading up to the event in October can be followed on twitter @milipolqatar and on facebook at Milipol Qatar.