Khaleej Times

Idex nets Dh7B deals on Day 2

- Ismail Sebugwaawo ismail@khaleejtim­es.com

abu dhabi — The UAE has awarded 24 defence and security deals worth Dh7 billion to local and internatio­nal firms on the second day of the Internatio­nal Defence Exhibition (Idex) in Abu Dhabi. The biggest deal of the day — worth Dh5.7 billion — awarded to American company Raytheon will see the UAE acquire rocket launchers for its air force’s Patriot system.

With this, the total worth of the deals inked in two days of the exhibition hit almost Dh12 billion. UAE companies received 18 of the deals worth Dh1.14 billion signed on Monday.

A Dh407 million contract was signed with Internatio­nal Golden Group to supply light ammunition for the UAE Armed Forces, while a Dh395 million contract awarded to Injazat will provide telecommun­ications services and maintenanc­e works on electronic software and devices for the forces.

abu dhabi — Visitors of the ongoing Internatio­nal Defence Exhibition (Idex) in the Capital are amused by the robot greeter, Titan, that comes out every hour to greet them and welcome them to the region’s largest defence exhibition.

Wearing a military vest, Titan walked around and introduced himself in both Arabic and English.

“Peace and blessings be with you. How are you all, visitors? The best thing to happen to me at Idex this year is being hired by Safe City Group. Yay!” Titan said in Arabic and English as he weaved through the crowds.

“Do you know why I applied for a job at Safe City Group? Because things in the UAE are always number one!”

Idex, which kicked off on Sunday, runs at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre until February 21 and expects around 100,000 visitors during the course of the event.

Titan, a famous walk-around robot, is eight feet tall and weighs 60kg. He is the world’s first commercial entertainm­ent robot artist and was developed by the British company Cyberstein.

Titan the Robot is an entertainm­ent concept unlike anything on earth and it is used by event management companies in the UAE and worldwide to add something special to festivals and corporate parties.

He is considered “the ultimate” when it comes to shopping mall entertainm­ent, and his co+medy antics are loved by children and adults alike. The walk-around robot speaks via pre-recorded audio snippets, including famous phrases from films.

His speech can be adapted into almost any language. He plays snippets of songs, too.

Titan makes it a point to connect to his audience — he jokes around and sometimes does cheeky tricks like squirting water at people.

Whenever he appears in any event, Titan is always a hit. He was once a guest in a number of prestigiou­s UAE events, including the Abu Dhabi F1 Grand Prix and the Internatio­nal Exhibition for National Security and Resilience.

 ?? Photo by Ryan Lim ?? A UAE-made robot entertains visitors on the second day of Internatio­nal Defence Exhibition and Conference held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on Monday. —
Photo by Ryan Lim A UAE-made robot entertains visitors on the second day of Internatio­nal Defence Exhibition and Conference held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre on Monday. —
 ?? Wam ?? Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid receives Bangladesh­i Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Abu Dhabi on Monday. —
Wam Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid receives Bangladesh­i Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Abu Dhabi on Monday. —
 ??  ?? A visitor checks a sniper rifle at a pavilion of the Internatio­nal Defence Exhibition on Monday.
A visitor checks a sniper rifle at a pavilion of the Internatio­nal Defence Exhibition on Monday.
 ??  ?? UAE-made robot Titan entertains visitors on the second day of the Internatio­nal Defence Exhibtion and Confrence.
UAE-made robot Titan entertains visitors on the second day of the Internatio­nal Defence Exhibtion and Confrence.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United Arab Emirates