Fatima Muhammad Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The 3rd Saudi Safety and Security Exhibition (SSS) will open in Dammam on Sunday under the sponsorship of Eastern Province Emir Prince Saud Bin Naif. More than 85 private and government exhibitors from Saudi Arabia and abroad will participate in the three-day event to be held at the Dhahran International Exhibitions Center. The exhibition will be organized by the Directorate General of Civil Defense in collaboration with the British BME Global Exhibition Services Company. The exhibition will display state-of-the-art safety and security products and tools while the forum will focus on fires and other hazards. According to safety and security experts, expenditure on civil defense in the Middle East region is expected to exceed $100 billion by 2015. Director of the Civil Defense in the Eastern Province Maj. Gen. Abdullah Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Khashman described the exhibition as the sole international fair of its kind for the safety and security industry and said the event will bring together the largest number of specialists in safety and security in Saudi Arabia. He expected more than 3,500 people to visit the fair. He said Saudi Arabia was one of the world's largest markets for safety and security technology and equipment. The exhibition is expected to attract local and international experts in the areas of safety, security and firefighting in addition to providers of technological solutions, representatives of energy companies, academics and strategists. He said: “The expo will open new opportunities for professionals and organizations operating in the industry.” The director said top researchers and specialists in safety and security from the Kingdom and abroad will discuss the Kingdom's plans and strategies to deal with the current problems in this sector, taking into account the Kingdom's vast area and the geographical location and climatic changes in the Arab Peninsula. Al-Khashman said through the organizing of these exhibitions and conferences, the Civil Defense aims to raise safety and security awareness among residents, informing them at the same time about its activities and programs. He said: “The exhibition is being organized on the occasion of the International Day of Civil Defense 2013 that carries the motto, ‘Community Participation and Civil Defense', in which Saudi Arabia participates with the rest of the world to realize the joint objectives.”
