LIMA 2015 Public Attendance Expected To Exceed 130,000 - Hishammuddin

By Azlee Nor Mahmud LANGKAWI (Kedah, Malaysia), March 21 (Bernama) -- Attendance at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2015 (LIMA'15) has revealed record-breaking figures on the last day of the region's premier exhibition. Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said public attendance at LIMA'15 was expected to exceed 130,000 which was recorded during the previous exhibition, two years ago. In brief closing remarks delivered by his deputy, Abdul Rahim Bakri, the combined attendances over the three main industry-only trade days (Tuesday to Thursday) totalled 39,684. He said, the public attendance to the aerospace segment until Friday stood at 50,826, while 35,855 visited the maritime segment at Awana Porto Malai. "The exhibition has been evolving in Langkawi for the past 25 years and this year's exhibition, concurrent programme of activities, live maritime and air displays, and static displays were the most impactful to date," added Hishammuddin. Hishammuddin described LIMA'15 as the biggest and best edition to date, with record numbers featuring 110 aircraft, five aerobatic teams, 65 warships and boats and 512 exhibitors from 36 countries, of which 266 were Malaysian. He said the numbers far exceeded previous editions and the steady growth showed that LIMA was widely regarded as the preferred platform and gateway to ASEAN, and anticipated a 10 per cent increase for the next LIMA which would be staged in March 2017. An impressive US$2.5 billion (RM9.29 billion) worth of contract signings were witnessed at the official memorandum of understanding signing ceremony during LIMA'15, exceeding the US$1.15 billion (RM4.27 billion) signed at LIMA'13 which equated to a 121 per cent increase this year, he noted. In addition to being a platform for business, there were seven high impact conferences and activities, highlighted among which were Chiefs of Navy Roundtable Talks, ASEAN Aviation Summit, LIMA'15 Air Chiefs Conference, Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology Open Forum and the ASEAN Business Forum. -- BERNAMA