Agong, Abu Dhabi Crown Prince grace LIMA '23

The King and the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince arrived at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre (MIEC) at around noon and were welcomed by Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan.

Pahang Regent Tengku Hassanal Ibrahim Alam Shah Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri'ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah was also in attendance.

Al-Sultan Abdullah and Sheikh Khaled then visited the Gading Marine Fast Inspector Craft G200 MKII and the booth of local aerospace company, Gading Group, while being briefed on the company operations.

The royal visitors then proceeded to visit other booths, namely the Sapura Secured Technologies, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, as well as the UAE's The Edge Group involved in military weaponry and related technologies.

Al-Sultan Abdullah then joined Sheikh Khaled, who is also Abu Dhabi Executive Council chairman, to watch the airshow mounted by aerobatic teams from various countries, including UAE's Al-Fursan, which performed a spectacular formation involving seven Aermacchi MB339A jets.

Al-Fursan which means 'The Knights', was established in early 2010 and made its debut Jan 20, 2010.

Sheikh Khaled, who is in a four-day special visit to Malaysia since May 21, had an audience with Al-Sultan Abdullah at Istana Negara yesterday and a meeting with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim before that.

The UAE is Malaysia's second-largest trading partner, second-largest export destination and second-largest import destination from the West Asian region.

Sheikh Khaled's special visit is expected to further strengthen the long-standing good relationship between Malaysia and the UAE, which was upgraded to a Strategic Partnership on Sept 27, 2022.

LIMA '23, themed "The Nexus of Asia's Maritime and Aerospace Trade" began today until May 27, and is expected to draw more than 45,000 trade visitors and 250,000 public visitors.

The biennial event is participated by over 525 exhibitors, including 140 companies from the defence industry, 101 companies from the commercial sector and 284 companies from both sectors.