Over the last few years, Qatar has been spending a lot more money on making itself more secure.

The Milipol Qatar 2018 defence exhibition, which is being held under the patronage of HH The Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was officially launched at the Doha Exhibition and Convention Centre yesterday.

#MilipolQatar 2018 opened its doors in the presence of H.E. Sheikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Bin Khalifa Al-Thani, Prime Minister & Minister of Interior of Qatar! pic.twitter.com/A9Nz4VFyEd

— Milipol Qatar (@MilipolQatar) October 29, 2018

Qatar’s Prime Minister and Interior Minister HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa Al Thani officially opened the exhibition, which is the 12th International Event for Homeland Security and Civil Defence, reported Gulf Times.

The exhibition, which features everything from firearms of the future to programmes augmenting cybersecurity, showcases a huge range of increasingly high-tech tools, reported Qatar Tribune.

HMC took part in Milipol Qatar 2018 and showcased one of its state-of-the-art mobile command units, which were recently added to the Ambulance Service fleet. pic.twitter.com/N2dgl5ECf7

— Hamad Medical Corp. (@HMC_Qatar) October 30, 2018

More than 219 exhibitors, hailing from 24 countries, are participating in this year’s expo. Defence specialists from Turkey, France, China, Italy, Germany, the UK, the US and several other nations are in attendance at the event.

For the first time, defence exhibitors from seven countries — Greece, India, Latvia, Morocco, Russia, Slovenia and Switzerland — have put up pavilions of their own.

HH the Amir met with HE Minister of Interior of the Sultanate of Oman on the occasion of his visit to the country to attend the 12th International Exhibition of Internal Security and Civil Defense (Milipol Qatar 2018) pic.twitter.com/UAkC25oM6R

— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) October 29, 2018

The exhibition features a wide range of equipment and sophisticated technologies that offer great protection against crimes. 

Technical innovations pertaining to various fields, including public security, defence solutions and equipment, telecom security and technologies, firefighting, radiation detection, emergency equipment, law enforcement products, communications software and airports, are being exhibited, reported Qatar Tribune.

The Milipol Qatar exhibition is held every two years along with Milipol Paris and Milipol Asia-Pacific.

Director General of Public Security confirms that Milipol Qatar 2018 is a real addition to strengthen the security services in the Middle East countries, and modernize their systems in the field of civil defense and internal security and combating terrorism

— Qatar News Agency (@QNAEnglish) October 29, 2018

The three-day event will also feature a demonstration of various devices, seminars on cybersecurity, civil defence and security management of major events.

A number of major deals and Memorandums of Understanding are expected to be signed over the course of the three-day event.