WEBINAR

WEBINAR

WEBINAR

Middle East Defence & Security: An open dialogue on opportunities and challenges in the region

Webinar Introduction

Clarion Defence & Security hosted a free-to-attend webinar on Wednesday 2nd September. The webinar is now available to view on demand.

The webinar provided the Middle East defence industry a global platform to discuss the progress and challenges they face in the short and long term. Attendees can hear success stories from two major think tanks and a newly established advanced technology group with the same goals; entry point to expand within the region, enhancing joint ventures and exploring the ME landscape.

View the webinar on demand

Topics

The webinar seeks to debate the issues that affect the defence military production industry:

  • Review the factors that shaped today’s environment
  • Assess the implications of market changes for contractors
  • Look into the main areas of technology development that are shaping the future of defence procurement in the Middle East
     

The webinar will explore the routes to reduce the costs of weapon systems that are planned, under development, or in production:

  • Embrace lean manufacturing in the tri-services
  • Removal of inventory buffers in order to focus on quality
  • Key benefits in developing Middle Eastern regional market competence in systems integration, research, development, test and analysis
  • Discuss the manufacturing and defence industrial base and explore supply chain expansion within the region

Outcomes

Webinar attendees will come away with a clearer understanding of the industry’s current plans, the challenges they face and their goals to excel within their sectors.

Thanks to the expert panel of industry speakers with extensive experience in military production, the audience will have an exclusive insight on how they envisage providing for continuity of work over a protracted period, their stance on seeking inward foreign direct investment and their localized military production capabilities.

We will address where the import of foreign personnel fits in and how much reliance is to be placed on achieving exports and do international collaborative projects have any place in their thinking.

Speakers    

Professor Trevor Taylor, Professorial Research Fellow in Defence Management, RUSI

Professor Trevor Taylor, Professorial Research Fellow in Defence Management, RUSI

Moderator

Trevor Taylor is Professorial Research Fellow in Defence Management at RUSI, where he heads up a research programme in Defence, Industries and Society, and is a member of the Acquisition Focus group which publishes regularly in RUSI Defence Systems.

In addition, he is professor emeritus at Cranfield University, where he still teaches, and where he was head of the Department of Defence Management and Security Analysis from 1997-2009. He also works regularly for the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, where he is an adjunct faculty member.

His career has linked the academic sphere with that of governmental and industrial professionals in defence, and he speaks and writes regularly at conferences on defence acquisition and management. A joint author of a book on UK defence industry, he was for six years an elected Council Member of the former Defence Manufacturers' Association.

He was previously Professor of International Relations at Staffordshire University and from 1990-93 was head of the International Security Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House) in London.  

Dr. Fahad Al Yafei, President - Platforms & Systems, EDGE

Dr. Fahad Al Yafei, President - Platforms & Systems, EDGE

Panellist

Dr. Fahad Al Yafei is President of the Platforms & Systems cluster, EDGE, an advanced technology group for defence and beyond. In this capacity, he provides strategic direction to the cluster’s entities and oversees its core business functions.

In addition to his role at EDGE, Dr. Al Yafei serves as Chairman of ADSB, AL JASOOR and also carries out his responsibilities as a member of the Board of Directors at Emirates Transport.

Prior to his role as Chairman at AL JASOOR, Dr. Al Yafei held the title of Chief Programs Officer at Tawazun Economic Council, and Chief Executive Officer at NIMR Automotive, where he facilitated the company’s regional and international growth, establishing NIMR as the leading manufacturer of light and medium weight wheeled military vehicles in the Middle East.

Dr. Al Yafei has several publications to his credit in the fields of engineering and technology transfer. He currently sits on the board of the School of Engineering Foundation at Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States.

Dr. Fahad Al Yafei holds a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Virginia Commonwealth University, USA. He has also earned a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) from the American University in Dubai, UAE, as well as a master’s degree in Energy Supply Chain Management from Cambridge University, UK, and a Ph.D. from Brunel University, UK.

Katadah A.Hameed Zaman, Executive Director, Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat)

Katadah A.Hameed Zaman, Executive Director, Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (Derasat)

Panellist

Katadah Zaman has over 18 years of management experience in both the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Derasat, Katadah was the first Bahraini Managing Director – Middle East in the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS). In his role as MD, he was the senior responsible officer with the government of the Kingdom of Bahrain and in charge of policy execution of the Manama Dialogue. His responsibilities for operations of the IISS–Middle East included business development, outreach, events, communications and overseeing all finance, Human Resources, and compliance.

Katadah also worked in the Bahrain Economic Development Board in a number of roles for a variety of programs, including investor relationship, events, protocol and project management. He also worked on the Economic and Labour Market Reforms before shifting to Special Projects where he was responsible for sociopolitical projects, business intelligence and analysis.

Katadah also held key posts in the private sector heading operations, marketing and business development. His roles in the private sector involved responsibility for administration and operations, setting up offices, budgetary oversight, interaction with investors and other key project stakeholders, as well as event organization.

Katadah holds a Bachelors Degree (Hons.) in Aviation Marketing Management from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Florida – USA.

Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher of Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, SIPRI

Pieter Wezeman, Senior Researcher of Arms and Military Expenditure Programme, SIPRI

Panellist

Pieter D. Wezeman (Netherlands/Sweden) is a Senior Researcher in SIPRI’s Arms and Military Expenditure Programme. He has contributed to many SIPRI publications since 1994, including SIPRI’s annual reviews of global trends in arms transfers, arms industry and military expenditure. Among other things, he has published on military expenditure and capabilities in the Middle East, the European defence industry, multilateral arms embargoes and export controls and the relation between arms flows and conflict in Africa. In 2003–2006 he also worked as a Senior Analyst on arms proliferation for the Dutch Ministry of Defence, and in 2017 as a Technical Expert for the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts during a review of the UN Report on Military Expenditure.