The forthcoming 17th International Conference & Exhibition of Industrial Security is expected to attract more than 5,000 commercial and government professionals to discuss the future of the security, fire and safety industry and source leading suppliers.

The three-day event, which will be held with the support of Interior Minister Prince Mohammad bin Naif, is set to begin at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center (RICEC) on Sunday (Nov. 2).

The booming commercial and industrial security, fire and safety markets for Saudi Arabia and the GCC are currently estimated at SR25 billion.

The highlights of the conference include sustainability, security stream and fire stream. In order to maintain a sustainable business, safety systems and procedures starting with the proper design and maintenance of machinery and equipment, vehicles and means of transportation, facilities, plants, buildings, sites and even cities should be implemented, an official stated.

Sustainability is everybody’s business in the public and commercial sectors and even in individual homes, while the security stream will provide the professionals the chance to find out more about the latest strategic and technological developments in the protection industry.

The security stream will feature a host of industry leaders, including Doug Haines, CEO, Haines Security Solutions, CA, USA; Robert James Evans, director, G4S Risk Management Ltd., the UK, Carla Naude CPP, ASIS Middle East Advisory Board, and Khalid Al-Almer, business systems analyst, Saudi Aramco.

The fire stream will offer fire safety professionals the chance to hear from industry experts about the latest technological developments and hear more about legislation and regulation updates.

The fire stream was a huge success in 2013 with insight from across the globe, including the following speakers: Richard Gordon, director, Bournemouth University International Disaster Management Centre; Captain Gavin Summers, Barnaby Fire Department, Richmond, BC Canada; and Amr Banjar, fire protection engineer, Saudi Aramco.

The safety stream will allow health and safety professionals to hear more about the new developments in the industry.

Running alongside the fire and security streams, the safety stream features the best of the industry. 2013 speakers included John Lacey, past president, IOSH, the UK; Ahmed Ajabnoor, director, international security, health and safety, Maaden; Riaz Rahman, occupational health and safety management specialist, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation, and Arafat Al-Oqaily, loss prevention engineer, Saudi Aramco.