2026 AJBAN
Exhibition date: 21-22 September, 2026
Exhibition Cycle: Annual
Exhibition Venue: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Exhibition Introduction
Hosted by EDGE Group UAE, the AJBAN Exhibition is a specialized event dedicated to the defence industrial supply chain. With its unique upstream positioning and precision resource matching advantages, it has become a highly influential defence industry business and trade platform in the region. Amid supply disruptions, embargoes and exorbitant monopoly pricing from Europe and the United States, the Middle East defence sector is vigorously supporting local defence manufacturing, with procurement increasingly shifting to China. The AJBAN Defence Industry & Technology Exhibition, kicking off in Abu Dhabi on 21-22 September 2026, serves as the golden key to unlocking this blue-ocean market for your enterprise.
This will mark the first time the AJBAN Exhibition is open to Chinese enterprises. As a closed-door business event, it differs from traditional general defence exhibitions. With its unique positioning of "precision upstream supply chain matching", AJBAN stands as an exclusive and scarce business and trade platform in the region. Defence manufacturers that previously participated as exhibitors will attend this edition as professional visitors, meaning you can conduct direct face-to-face negotiations with core procurement decision-makers without multi-level intermediary coordination, delivering a qualitative leap in partnership conversion rates.
Core Advantages
- Exclusive Precision Circle Matching: The full event adopts a closed-door invitation-only system, eliminating interference from irrelevant personnel. All attendees are core purchasers, developers and decision-makers in the defence industry.
- Pre-lock Clients and Take the Initiative: The buyer list will be released 2 weeks prior to the exhibition, enabling 100% precise demand matching to eliminate unproductive interactions. Exhibitors can pre-schedule one-on-one business meetings to avoid missing high-value opportunities on-site.
- Exclusive Benefits for Chinese Enterprises: Most defence manufacturers in the region are urgently seeking high-quality suppliers outside of Europe and the United States, and your technologies and products are exactly the core resources they are eager to source.
- Guaranteed High-Efficiency Conversion: The exhibition pre-sets multiple targeted business matching events, with professional services to help you convert your exhibition investment into tangible cooperation intentions without futile efforts.
- Full Chinese Industrial Chain Support: Covering upstream product supply chains including spare parts, raw materials, various production machinery and equipment, and precision processing.
- Wide Regional Coverage: The event covers major manufacturing countries in the Middle East including Egypt, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Jordan, with every targeted buyer in attendance coming with clear procurement demands.
- Strict Access Review: Enterprise products can only be exhibited after passing strict approval procedures.
- Customized Buyer Invitation: For visitors not on the pre-set invitation list, exhibitors may submit a list of target contacts, and the organizer will invite the relevant decision-makers to attend the exhibition for dedicated negotiations.
Previous Edition Data
In terms of visitors, the previous edition welcomed a total of 816 professional visitors, including 123 visitors from Tawazun projects, as well as a 561-person delegation of UAE defence manufacturers. A total of 102 exhibitors participated in the event, among which 84% achieved their exhibition objectives, 87% rated their exhibition experience as excellent or good, and 92% stated that they would participate in the next edition of the exhibition.
The 2026 edition of AJBAN features a host of highly anticipated highlights: in addition to dedicated industry zones, an advanced technology zone and an exclusive investor lounge, the event will welcome 200 exhibitors and 1,500 visitors. Exhibitors will hold on-site demonstrations, with international exhibitors accounting for 50% of the total. Meanwhile, 40% of regional buyers will participate in the event. The exhibition retains its invitation-only admission format, with over 8,000 B2B meetings expected to be held during the event. It will also feature a dedicated Hosted Buyer Program and AJBAN Talks sessions.
Exhibition Scope
I. Metal Processing & Manufacturing Sector
Steel Manufacturing: Production of various steel products
Steel Processing: Steel forming and machining services
Aluminum Product Manufacturing & Processing: Aluminum product production and forming services
Steel & Aluminum Casting & Extrusion: Metal casting and extrusion forming processes
II. Plastics Related Sector
Plastic Manufacturing & Processing: Plastic product production and forming services
Plastic Casting: Plastic cast products and related processes
III. Industrial Basic Supporting Sector
Spare Parts & Components: Industrial equipment and machinery parts and components
Machine Tool Equipment: Display and sales of industrial processing machine tools
Cables & Wiring Harnesses: Industrial cables and wiring harness products
Industrial Chemicals & Dyestuffs: Industrial chemicals and dyestuffs
IV. New Materials & Surface Treatment Sector
Composite Materials: New products including fiber-reinforced materials
Sealing Gaskets: Industrial sealing gaskets
Coating Treatment: Product surface coating process services
V. Electronics & Technology Sector
Semiconductors: Semiconductor components and technologies
Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS): Supporting services for electronic components
IT & Software: Industrial intelligent manufacturing software
3D Printing: Industrial-grade 3D printing equipment and services
Data Storage: Industrial data storage solutions
VI. Specialized Fields & Supporting Services Sector
Ballistic Steel: Protective ballistic steel products
Industrial Engineering: Process optimization solutions
Logistics & Finance: Freight forwarding services and corporate credit support
