LIMA 2013 Expects to Surpass Last Year's Attendance Record

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- The 12th Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima) scheduled for March next year is expected to surpass its record attendance of over 400 companies and some 150,000 visitors last year. Defence Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said with barely nine months to go, more than 60 per cent of the floor space had been sold with organisers forecasting a 10 per cent growth in overall space sales. Last year's exhibition generated approximately RM150 million in tourist receipts for the country. "Lima is continuing with its drive to give more value to its participants with its new tag-line 'Delivering Asian Markets' and encompass our overall strategy to provide an effective and relevant platform in a region widely considered to be the world's leading growth area for aerospace and maritime," said Ahmad Zahid. He was speaking at a press conference after witnessing the signing of participation agreements between show organiser, HW LIMA Exhibitions and the countries' flagship aerospace and maritime companies, National Aerospace Defence Industries (Nadi) and Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation, Ahmad Zahid said new key programmes to be introduced at next year's event, including the Asean Aviation Best Practices Awards, a ship building and ship repair conference and a commercial aviation conference, were designed to boost Lima's global profile and to increase participation. "The Royal Malaysian Navy will organise an international cultural evening in which navy personnel from other participating countries will be performing," he said. Nadi and Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation were the largest participants at Lima 2011 and are expected to continue to spearhead Malaysia's representation at next year's event. Lima is a biennial event that gathers the world's leading maritime and aerospace companies in a week of high impact businesses and networking activities. -- BERNAMA