LIMA'11 First-Day Attendance Breaks Record-Minister

LANGKAWI, Dec 7 (Bernama) -- Some 15,000 trade visitors passed through the doors of the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre (MIEC) on Tuesday, setting a record for first-day attendance at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition 2011 (LIMA '11). Defence Minister Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi appeared pleased with this development when he addressed a press conference at the MIEC, the venue of the aerospace segment of the 11th edition of the defence and security show, here Wednesday. "This is a new record for LIMA which was first held in 1991. Previous exhibitions recorded between 8,500 and 9,000 visitors on the first day of the event," he said. "And mind you, the exhibition is yet to open to the public," he noted, thanking the media for their role in highlighting the LIMA event. The public may visit the LIMA exhibition at MIEC on Friday and Saturday. He said about 350 local and foreign journalists had registered with LIMA's media centre. Ahmad Zahid disclosed that seven contracts had been inked between various entities at the exhibition to date, expecting that more would be signed by the end of LIMA on Saturday. -- BERNAMA