BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 30. One of the significant steps taken in recent years is securing the private sector's more active participation in the defense industry in Azerbaijan.
This was stated by the Minister of Defense Industry Vugar Mustafayev at the opening ceremony of the 6th Azerbaijan International Defense Exhibition (ADEX-2026) and the 15th Anniversary International Exhibition for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue Equipment (Securex Caspian) today.
The minister noted that the experience of the Second Karabakh War—which culminated in the glorious victory of our army—demonstrated once again that modern technology, agile decision-making, and reliable domestic production capabilities are vital elements of national security.
"Today, more than 20 local private organizations are showcasing their products and solutions at the ADEX exhibition. A significant number of them are already involved in supplying our Armed Forces, while some have begun export operations. At the same time, final testing for a range of new products is underway, and we anticipate that the share of local companies in defense supplies will increase in the near future. Our approach is based on the principle that a strong national defense industry cannot be built solely on the capabilities of state-owned enterprises.
The state's institutional and manufacturing capacities must be complemented by the private sector's agility, initiative, innovation potential, and investment capacity. It is precisely this model of cooperation that enables the formation of a more competitive and resilient defense industry ecosystem," added Mustafayev.
The 6th Azerbaijan International Defence Exhibition (ADEX-2026) and the 15th anniversary Securex Caspian International Exhibition for Internal Security, Safety, and Rescue Equipment have opened.
In total, more than 270 companies from 29 countries have confirmed their participation in the ADEX and Securex Caspian exhibitions. A total of 45 foreign delegations from 33 countries have registered to date for participation in the exhibition.
Countries being represented with delegates include the U.S., Belarus, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Great Britain, South Korea, Czech Republic, Afghanistan, Georgia, Jordan, Iraq, Israel, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Malaysia, Morocco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Russia, Serbia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, Sudan, Northern Cyprus, Türkiye, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uganda, and Vietnam.
In addition, 14 countries - the U.S., Azerbaijan, Belarus, the UK, the Czech Republic, China, Israel, Italy, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Türkiye, and Uzbekistan - are represented by national pavilions at the exhibitions.
One of the key new features of ADEX 2026 is that, for the first time, Pavilion 4 of the Baku Expo Center will be allocated to Azerbaijan’s national exhibition.
