Malaysia hosts Asian security, defence conferences

Malaysia’s Senior Minister and Minister of Defence  Hishammuddin Hussein speaks at the event. (Photo: VNA)

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – About 25,000 visitors from more than 50 countries and territories are expected to attend the 2022 Defence Services Asia (DSA) and 2022 National Security Conference Asia (NATSEC), scheduled to be held from March 28 to 31 at the Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (Mitec) in Kuala Lumpur, said Senior Minister and Minister of Defence Hishammuddin Hussein.

Speaking at a press conference on March 27, he said that as one of the leading defence and security shows in the world, DAS 2022 and NATSEC 2022 will send a strong signal to the world that Malaysia is open for business and is the ideal destination for investments and trade - a much-needed catalyst to spur and contribute to the country’s recovery efforts.

As many as 1,170 companies from 54 countries will participate in the event to showcase the most sophisticated hardware and electronics of land, air and sea forces; along with cutting-edge technology in the areas of cyber domain, border protection, citizen identification, artificial intelligence, battlefield healthcare, training and simulation systems, police and homeland security peripherals, as well as protection systems of critical assets, he said.

Hishammuddin also said that there would be 20 country group pavilions by Malaysia, Austria, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Indonesia, India, Italy, Norway, Pakistan, Slovakia, Spain, the Republic of Korea, Switzerland, China, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Malaysia’s Defence Ministry will coordinate with the Institute of Defence and Security in organising 2022 Putrajaya Forum on March 29 which will focus on shared regional responsibility with two sessions, titled 'Adapting to Regional Security Evolution' and 'Security Without Borders', respectively, he said.

DSA and NATSEC are one of the world's largest defense and security events held every two years. The first DSA was held in 1988. Malaysia canceled the 17th DSA and the 2nd NATSEC which were scheduled to be held in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

DSA 2022 and NATSEC 2022 are also the first and largest international events that this Southeast Asian country has hosted since the Malaysian Government decided to move from the transition to endemic phase of COVID-19 from April 1./.