Set for Dubai's International Convention and Exhibition Centre 21 - 23 January, the ninth edition of Intersec has grown by more than fifty per cent in less than a year. With support of the the UAE Ministry of Interior, Dubai Civil Defence and Dubai Police, Intersec combines a trade fair with a substantial conference programme. Visitors will meet more than 600 international and regional specialist firms at the exhibition from 50 countries.

Covering commercial security, fire fighting and prevention, police, homeland security, safety and health sectors, Intersec's organisers', Messe Frankfurt, predict more than 16,000 specialist visitors, delegates and government officials will attend the three day event. International delegations too are a growing feature of Intersec with an increasing number of visitors from overseas. They represented a third of the total attendance at Intersec 2006 with visitors coming from 55 countries.

The 2007 event will see the first major delegation taking part from Thailand, including VIPs from the Thai Ministry of Interior and the Royal Thai Police. Many Gulf countries will also be sending important represents such as the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Water and Electricity. This includes some of the largest national groups to be present at any of the Gulf region's major trade fairs, such as the UK with over 100 companies represented. Country pavilions from 12 countries will be taking part at Intersec including the USA, Germany, Italy, Austria, Canada, Scandinavia, Korea, Taiwan, HongKong, Singapore and China.

A number of key influencing factors have contributed towards the rapid growth of Intersec. One of the most obvious is the ongoing boom in construction and infrastructure, all which places increased demands on every aspect of security, fire prevention, safety and health. In addition to which the global focus on security, anti-terrorism and border control are clearly a major priority in the Gulf area.

One of the most substantial aspects of Intersec 2007 is the conference programme featuring 44 experts drawn from all four corners of the world. These include specialists such as Dr Guido Bertolaso, Head of the Italian Department of Civil Protection; Lord Mackenzie of Framwellgate, Police Adviser to the UK Government; Sir Ken Knight, Commissioner of London Fire Brigade; John A. Olsen, Senior Manager of Frankfurt Airport Fire Training Center and Ms Lisa Fowlie, Chairman of the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Speakers from the Middle East region include General Adel Ahmed Abdul Hameed Awad, General Manager of the General Administration for Technical Aid in Egypt; Mohammed Saif Bufaroosha, Student Training Officier of Dubai Civil Defence; Mr Aqeel Abdul Mahdi, General Manager of National Petroleum Construction Company and Mr Wajdi Al Sadat, Risk Assessment Engineer of Saudi Aramco.

The event will open with a keynote from the Commander in Chief of Dubai Police, whose speech will be followed by a presentation from Brigadier Rashid Thani Al Matrooshi, Head of Dubai Civil Defence.

Dubai's Civil Defence will also be an active participant at Intersec by providing practical demonstrations of some of their emergency procedures. These will include how the department uses helicopters as a primary means of logistics in dealing with fires and other emergency situations such as rescuing casualties from road traffic accidents.