S. America maritime security business up

Maritime security concerns are fueling a rise in the marketing and sales of equipment and services that feed into the growing procurement business with Central and South American navies and commercial shipping.

The security concerns, often expressed at regional defense and security conferences, drove new maritime business at recent arms fairs in Central and South America.

Businesses and government decision-makers will gather Dec. 4-7 at Valparaiso, Chile, for a review of the latest in defense and security innovations for seaborne armed forces, maritime business and maritime security industry.

Brazil’s multibillion-dollar development of offshore oil and gas resources has triggered a boom in copycat exploration and development along the Atlantic, Pacific and Caribbean coastlines shared by many countries.

The International Maritime Exhibition and Conference for Latin America at the Chilean port follows similar events in Brazil and numerous other locations in Central and South America through the 2011-12 period.

The event, also called Expo Naval, is a meeting point for procurement heads, directors of military organizations, public and government civil servants and defense contracting companies.

However, analysts said financial cutbacks would likely affect attendance this year. U.S. firms in particular have clamped down on foreign marketing campaigns requiring human presence from their headquarters and U.S. government agencies have also cut back on junkets.

Faced with stringent expenditure cuts, international companies have embarked on recruiting local staff and setting up regional representative offices with modest outlays, in contrast to previous tendency to splash on foreign marketing.

Industry analysts said Expo Naval expects a larger input from defense and security manufacturers in Asia, particularly China and South Korea, and a moderate presence from Europe including Russia.

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Article courtesy of UPI.