SMES 2011 Security Middle East Show defense Exhibition news Homeland Conference International daily.

After the huge success of the Security Middle East Show – SMES 2009, the first ever biennial security exhibition and conference in Lebanon and the Levant region, SMES returns in 2011 bigger and better than ever. SMES 09 hosted a number of international elite security and defense companies in April 2009 at Biel, and in 28 - 30 November 2011, SMES exhibitors will expand their displays to cover homeland security, border security, infrastructure security, and critical structure security and counter terrorism. SMES takes place under the patronage of his Excellency the president Gen Michel Sleiman and with the support of the Internal Security Forces (ISF), and the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF). The show also includes live maneuvers by troops of the ISF and the LAF.

Why participate in SMES 2011 :
Several Arab countries in the Middle East and the Gulf region have been recently purchasing arms and weaponry. That is mostly connected with the increase of terrorism and piracy accidents in the region which triggers Arab governments to secure their borders and fully protect them. This action is proven further with the $104 m worth of military support provided by the United States to Lebanon in 2009. According to the Security and Defense Arabia news website (www.sdarabia.com), the U.S. has provided the Lebanese government with a five-year plan, worth half a billion dollars during which the Lebanese government would support its defense system. Earlier in 2009 the U.S. gave-away a number of Humvees to the Lebanese armed forces and 120 patrol cars to the Internal Security Forces and a Cessna Caravan 208 for border security along with 20 Hellfire missiles. This change in the American policy towards the Lebanese is also accompanied by the Arab countries race to arm themselves. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has signed in July 2009 a massive deal to protect its 9000 km borders. Similarly countries like Jordan, UAE, and Egypt are seeking to secure their borders too. A vast movement in the Middle East recruiting security equipment demands having a security show in a most strategic country as Lebanon.

- SMES actively contributed to increase the sales of most of the exhibitors by receiving a huge number of visitors that included official foreign delegations. The number of international, regional and local security companies participating in SMES 2011 will increase making SMES one of the major security events in the Middle East region
- SMES attracts the most recognized security officials and experts seeking knowledge on all the latest security technologies
- SMES proved to be appealing to international and local media in an area that is regularly subject to security fluctuations
- SMES is the ideal platform for new defense and security companies to launch their latest products and technologies in a world class business environment
- SMES is one event that promotes for an entire industry that is capable of uplifting the security scene of the country and the region

SMES 2011 it's also a conference:
SMES aims at encountering Middle East security predicaments rather than solely displaying security and defense products. For that reason it opens with a conference which covers the most important topics on the security scene in the Arab region. These topics are presented and discussed by prominent specialists in the domain and out casted in the most elaborate presentations.
SMES 09 the conference was attended by highly distinguished military personnel and discussed the challenges that Lebanon and the whole region was facing at the security level and the means to overcome them. Maj Gen Ashraf Rifi, Director General of the ISF, led the first panel and was followed by INTERPOL’s representative, Brig. Gen. George Boustani. Whereas the second panel was led by INEGMA’s president, Maj. Gen. Khaled Al Bou Ainan who was followed by Brig Gen Fahed Youssef Al Kassasiba, Chief Inspector, Public Security, Jordan. The second panel was oriented towards counter terrorism and ways of battling this predicament facing the world nowadays.
SMES 2011 promises to deliver a high-quality conference continuing our belief in offering the best standards in excellence.