DSA 2012 Could Reap More Than US$65.18 Million In Foreign Exchange, Says Defence Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 (Bernama) -- A foreign exchange income of US$65.18 million (RM200 million) has been projected for this year's exhibition of defence equipment and services at the Defence Services Asia (DSA 2012), said Defence Minister of Malaysia Dr Zahid Hamidi. This is based on the fact that this year's event, to be held at the Putra World Trade Centre here from April 16-19, will be much bigger than the previous event, he said. Speaking during a luncheon with media members here Wednesday, Zahid said more than RM180 million in foreign exchange was generated during the DSA 2010, while the government of Malaysia had also signed contracts, MoU and Letter of Intent (LOI) worth more than RM11.28 billion. Zahid said the exhibition will also create various networking opportunities between local and international defence companies. Todate, DSA 2012 has already plugged in the participation of 25 country pavilions including from Australia, Austria, Bosnia, Brazil, Canada, China, Republic of Czech, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Norway, Pakistan, Poland, Rusia, Slovakia, South Korea, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, Ukraine and the United States. Malaysia's pavilion will see the participation of Amdac, Boustead, DRB-Hicom, DEFTECH, Nadi Defence, Sapura, SME Ordnance, Westar LDV and Zetro. Zahid said several conferences will be also held in conjunction with DSA 2012 including the Putrajaya Forum, Chiefs of Army Roundtable Talks, Battlefield Healthcare Forum, Police and National Security Services and the ASEAN Defence Industry Collaboration. (US$1 = RM3.06) --BERNAMA