BEIRUT: An international exhibition featuring the latest military- and security-related technology and equipment will take place in November in Beirut, Interior Minister Marwan Charbel announced Thursday.

“This exhibition will provide a valuable opportunity for the security and the military establishments in Lebanon to communicate with the biggest international firms and to be informed on the latest industries and technologies, and inform these companies about the needs of the Lebanese Army and the security forces,” said Riad Kahwaji, executive director of the Institute for Near East and Gulf Military Analysis, which is organizing the exhibition.

Experts in the field of security and military technology will be “surprised” by some of the hi-tech skills and capabilities that will be featured during the exhibition, Kahwaji said.

Charbel said he “didn’t hesitate” when asked about organizing a second exhibition in Lebanon, “not because I’m a soldier” but because he very much enjoyed the first event and was impressed at the high turnout of important figures.

He said that all international exhibitions organized in the country aimed at showing foreigners that “Lebanon is a distinguished country ready to receive and embrace everything that can benefit Lebanon and the Lebanese.”

The exhibition, organized under the patronage of Prime Minister Najib Mikati, will take place at the BIEL exhibition grounds from Nov. 28-30. An earlier edition of the exhibition was held in Beirut in 2009.

During a conference prior to the exhibition, senior security officials will give presentations on the dangers facing the country’s security situation and how to confront them.

“This security exhibition tackles modern techniques that provide protection and take part in limiting crime and terrorist operations,” Charbel said, and that there was “a pressing need to preserve stability and build on it.”

“This exhibition is for the security and military establishments as well as the private sector, and has no political stance,” Kahwaji stressed.

Charbel said that the “advanced devices” that will be presented during the exhibition “reconciled preserving security and respecting human rights,” which he said was “central” as the security forces’ role was “to guarantee the unity and safety of the society.”

The exhibition will present material in relation to national security, border security and combating terrorism, Charbel explained, adding that the country had paid a “high price in combating terrorism.”

He admitted the country’s security establishment had a “severe need” to improve in the field of electronic weapons and devices, but said it wouldn’t hesitate in confronting “any attempt to destabilize or threaten Lebanon.”

“The state promises to make persistent efforts to provide the security establishment with all their needs,” he added, saying this commitment was included in the Cabinet’s policy statement.

Charbel also mentioned recent security related incidents, such as the kidnapping and release of seven Estonian nationals earlier this year and a deadly explosion in Antelias earlier this month, and said the security situation in the country was under control.