Abu Dhabi: Many companies based on joint ventures between Emirati and international companies have won a large number of contracts awarded by the UAE Armed Forces at the exhibition so far.
Emiraje Systems LLC won a $550 million (Dh2.01 billion) contract for the first phase of the UAE Command and Control System of the General Headquarters (GHQ) of the UAE Armed Forces.
The contract, announced by the UAE Armed Forces on Tuesday, is one of the largest contracts at this year's event.
Major-General Obaid Al Katbi, head of the Idex 2011 organising committee and its spokesman, said that Emiraje won the contract because of their "strong alliance" with international firms.
Emiraje is a joint venture between C4 Advanced Solutions (C4AS), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Emirates Advanced Investments Group, and Cassidian, an EADS company.
Al Katbi said that the focus has been on quality and the transfer of technology. He said that local companies "have become very competitive" and "very convincing to go with" because of their joint ventures.
Abdul Aziz Al Khaili, Chairman and Managing Director of Emiraje Systems, said that the company's joint venture will help enhance local capabilities in the UAE.
"We have a lot of experts coming from our partners," he said.
"The knowledge transfer will be a big portion of this project," he added.
While this is not the first project between GHQ of the UAE Armed Forces and Emiraje, Al Khaili said it's "the biggest and most important" one.
Cassidian President and CEO Herve Guillou said that their partnership with Emiraje is part of their growth strategy. He said that working with Emiraje will give Cassadian a "fantastic" reference which will benefit the company both inside and outside the UAE.
