Estonian defense industry companies seeking partners in Middle East

The Estonian Defence Industry Association (EDIA), Defendec OÜ, ELI OÜ, Milrem AS and Threod Systems OÜ are participating in a joint stand at the Unmanned Systems Exhibition and Conference (UMEX 2018) in Abu Dhabi with the aim of establishing new contacts and signing possible cooperation agreements.
"Milrem's unmanned land armored vehicles, ELI and Threod Systems' unmanned aircraft, the additional systems able to integrated with them and Defendec's border protection solutions have received a lot of attention across the world, as they have unique capabilities in their field," said Ingvar Pärnamäe, head of the Estonian Defence and Security Industry Innovation Cluster.
"Unmanned systems and digital solutions are taking on an ever greater role on future battle fields and the interest of Estonian companies in this development is definitely in the forefront," he said.
Tanel Rebane, chief of the development division of Enterprise Estonia, said that there are a number of untapped possibilities for Estonian defense industry enterprises on Middle Eastern markets, and participating in the fair will offer a good opportunity to strengthen existing contacts, increase trust and reach new potential partners by introducing their innovative products more widely.
Pärnamäe added that this is not the first time that Estonian companies are exhibiting their technology at UMEX. "We have on several occasions participated in the arms fair IDEX right here in Abu Dhabi," he recalled. "The Persian Gulf region is an attractive region for the Estonian defense industry, as the countries here simultaneously have purchasing power as well as interest in the newest technology."
Villiko Nurmoja, CEO of Threod Systems, said that UMEX 2018 will give the opportunity to strengthen cooperation with foreign partners. "As transactions in the defense industry sector, and especially in the Middle East region, usually take a long time, one must be consistent," he said, adding that this made participation in the sector's most important fairs critically important from the perspective of increasing export capability.
According to Nurmoja, the main aim of Threod Systems at UMEX 2018 is to showcase new products and developments; the multi-payload multirotor Titan and unmanned aircraft EOS with vertical take-off and landing will be presented for the first time.
The EDIA, Defendec OÜ, ELI OÜ, Milrem AS and Threod Systems OÜ will participate in a joint stand at UMEX 2018 Abu Dhabi from Feb. 25-27. Their participation in the fair is being co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund. Commander of the Estonian Defence Forces Gen. Riho Terras is also supporting leading Estonian developers of unmanned defense technologies in Abu Dhabi.
An exhibition of Estonian defense industry companies is also planned for Paris in June.
Editor: Aili Vahtla
Source: BNS