International Defence Exhibition and Seminar

The brainchild of the then Chief Executive of Pakistan, Gen. Parvez Musharraf, the first ever Tri-Service Defence Exhibition and the largest International Event of its kind in Pakistan, ‘IDEAS 2000’ was held at the EXPO Centre in Karachi, Pakistan, in November 2000

Mr. Mohammad Rafiq Tarar, President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan, honoured the event as Chief Guest. Service Chiefs of Pakistan Navy and Airforce were also present at the event.

The presence of delegates from 35 countries, with a combined procurement budget of over 20 billion dollars, prides IDEAS 2000 and its organizers for being the initiators in bringing together the nations with their geopolitical significance from across the globe.

The Rheinmetall MG 3 machine gun, produced under license by Pakistan Ordnance Factories(POF), on display at IDEAS

Several HK MP5 and HK G3 variants produced by POF on display at IDEAS.

[5]

Occurring on 16–19 September 2002 at the Karachi Expo Centre, the seminar element of the conference had expanded by this point to include, over two days, the following themes: "Asian Security Scenario" and "The Asian Defence Market". The principal officer in charge of the event was Major General Syed Ali Hamed, then Director General of DEPO, who expected to receive 1500 attendees. The event was launched again by President Pervez Musharraf.[4]

In its second year the event had attracted wide international interest with General Hamid reporting to Dawn newspaper that exhibitors from China, Turkey, France, Russia, Italy, Romania, Ukraine, United Kingdom, USA, UAE and Saudi Arabia were expected to attend.[4]

Already by 2002, IDEAS was being touted as the largest commercial event in the history of Pakistan with 45 official delegations from 30 countries attending and 110 exhibition stands from 25 countries.[6]

In his speech, President Musharraf said the seminar would go a long way in shortening the technological gap between developed and developing countries especially with regards to defence production and preparedness, he welcomed the international delegates: "Their presence positively reflect[ing] the standing that Pakistan holds in the world as well as the excellent relations that it enjoys with a host of nations."[6][5]

However the event did not go without criticism, with Campaign Against Arms Trade noting that delegations from North Korea, Burma and Sudan were all present.[7] Despite this, there was full representation from the Pakistan Armed Forces with all of the Service Chiefs in attendance, and even though India had attempted to curtail US sales to Pakistan, there was a sizeable presence from American companies including from Lockheed Martin and Raytheon.[8]

By 2006 IDEAS was an established biannual international defence expo, it used the tag line (still in use today) of "Arms for Peace" and had matured to announce defence contracts as a major feature of the programme. 226 companies attended the exhibition of which 148 were non-Pakistani.[9]

The first contract to be announced was the co-production of arms and ammunition with Germany and the Republic of Korea and was disclosed by the Chairman of Pakistan Ordnance Factories (POF) Lt General Syed Sabahat Hussain."[10]

Aside from this, Dr Samar Mubarakmand from Pakistan's National Engineering and Scientific Commission (NESCOM) also announced MoUs with undisclosed African and Muslim states of $50 million dollars, adding to NESCOM's existing export deals worth $500million over the last three years with no transfer of technology necessary.[11][12]

A variety of grenades, artillery shells, mortar shells and other ammunition produced by Pakistan Ordnance Factories, on display at IDEAS.

[11][13] According to the Pakistani News Service an "extensive media coverage was made with over 2,200 articles, editorials and news items published worldwide in leading newspapers and industry magazines."[1]

Gaining momentum from the previous exhibition in 2006, General Farooq also reported three months prior to the exhibition to be held at the Karachi Expo Centre on 24–28 November that 92% of exhibition space had already been sold.[14] And unlike the previous four exhibitions, which offered free entry to the expo element of the event, a fee would be levied of $25 per person.[1][9]

JF-17 Thunder Aircraft at IDEAS 2008

The Prime Minister's address was centred on terrorism and extremism, its negative effects on the perception of Pakistan and the motives of terrorists to destabilise Pakistan's economy. He concluded that IDEAS, with its great many exhibitors, was proof that the terrorists were not having the diverse effect they would hope for. Other notable attendees included: Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, Chief of Army Staff General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and the State Minister for Defence Abdul Qayoom Khan Jatoi.[15]