Dubai, 16th November, 2019. If Dubai Airshow reflects the leading edge of the aerospace & defense marketplace in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), U.S. exhibitors at this year’s show exemplify the diverse scope and scale of America’s growing role as the region’s leading A&D supplier.
The UAE has been the top U.S. export market in the MENA region for the past 10 years and a critical regional hub for 1,500 American companies doing business throughout the Middle East, Africa and South Asia, according to the U.S. Commercial Service, the trade promotion arm of the United States Department of Commerce. It is the third largest arms market for the United States — the world’s top defense supplier — behind Australia and Saudi Arabia.
The Dubai Airshow is the region’s largest and most diversified aerospace and defense business gathering. It is expected to draw more than 80,000 trade visitors and 1,200 exhibitors from 60 countries November 17-21 at the DWC Dubai Airshow site. Chief among them, the United States will present nearly 140 exhibitors, the most of any participating country.
The centerpiece of the American national effort will be the USA Partnership Pavilion, organized by Kallman Worldwide, Inc., in coordination with numerous government agencies, including the departments of Commerce, Defense and State. The 2019 show is Kallman’s seventh consecutive edition organizing Americans here — its 11th overall.
The Pavilion is America’s headquarters on-site: an efficient location for buyers to meet more U.S. suppliers, a professional business center for U.S. exhibitors to maximize their exposure and impact on-site and a forum for all to share ideas and insights. This year, the USA Partnership Pavilion has expanded its footprint to 3,517 square meters supporting 92 participating companies, including 15 first-time Dubai Airshow exhibitors. A total of 25 states are represented, including four stand-alone state pavilions — Arizona, Missouri, North Carolina and Washington — within the larger U.S. space.
Kallman Worldwide President and CEO Tom Kallman said American participation in the USA Partnership Pavilion reflects a global trend.
“Now more than ever, success in international trade comes from partnership and teamwork. The USA Partnership Pavilion sharpens our focus on helping advance America’s national interests and security by building stronger relationships with our international customers,” said Kallman.
“Many of our exhibitors — from publicly traded stalwarts such as L3Harris [NYSE: LHX] and Northrop Grumman [NYSE: NOC] to small- and medium-sized enterprises [SMEs] with fewer than 500 employees — already have significant partnerships and operations in the UAE and MENA region. In the years to come, many more will,” he said.
First-time USA Partnership Pavilion exhibitor Michael Hiraoka, Business Development Manager for Oakland, CA-based ERG Aerospace Corporation, shares Kallman’s view. The company manufactures Duocel® Materials, a lightweight, strong structure made of metal, carbon, and ceramic, which is used to improve performance in engines, aircraft, missiles and space applications.
“As the aerospace industry continues to become more globalized, it is imperative for us to have a unified presence at events like the Dubai Airshow,” said Hiraoka. “U.S. companies working together and partnering with organizations across the world will drive the next generation of aerospace innovation and provide solutions to the industry’s most challenging problems.”
To spotlight the proven partnership between the United States and the UAE, the USA Partnership Pavilion will host the first “Astronaut Al Worden Endeavour Scholarship” Awards in association with the UAE Space Agency on Monday, November 18 in the FORUM Presentation Stage (#1362). The program, which was unveiled earlier this year at the Paris Air Show by Kallman and Worden, pilot of the Apollo 15 Command Module “Endeavour,” inspires young people to pursue their dreams through STEM education, and sends select students and educators from international airshow communities to experience a week of astronaut training at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Space Camp in Huntsville, AL. The Dubai awards to four Emirati students and two educators are the first in the inaugural schedule which is planned through the summer of 2021.
“As a lifelong advocate for STEM education and exploration, I am deeply honored and excited to lend my name and experience to this international Space Camp program,” said Worden. “When you consider the decades of rigor and discipline it’s going to take to successfully put people from Earth on Mars, and that the UAE has plans for establishing a colony on Mars by 2117, we need to pick up the pace. The pipeline for STEM talent can handle a lot more volume.”
