** Initially posted on Egypt Today Website.
CAIRO - 21 December 2018: Egypt ranks 12 out of 136 countries around the world, with a stellar Power Index of 0.2751 (0.000 is the perfect score), according to a report published by Global Firepower.
Egypt is the highest ranking Arab and African country, ranking higher that Israel, Iran and Pakistan.
Countries are judged on diversity of weapons, manpower, geographical location, logistical capacity, natural resource abundance and use, and the status of the local industry. The total number of weapons are not taken into account when ranking.
Furthermore, the ranking is working to ensure that all countries are ranked equally by ensuring that land-lock countries are not penalized for not having a standing navy; still, naval powers were categorized based on the diversity of available assets.
Earlier in December 2018, Egypt hosted the International Defense and Security Industry Exhibition "EDEX-2018", for the first time in North Africa.
The exhibition was inaugurated by President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi, who also inspected the exhibition and the Egyptian pavilion. He listened to a detailed explanation about the other pavilions as well.
Leaders worldwide spoke of the pivotal role that the country has had in the region.
The inauguration was attended by Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly, and Mohamed Zaki, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces and the Minister of Defense and Military Production as well as many other officials.
Furthermore, 10 defense ministries from the United Arab Emirates, Oman, Sudan, France, Greece, Cyprus, South Sudan, Cameroon, Somalia and South Korea attended the exhibition.
Organized by the Egyptian Ministry of Defense and Military Production, "EDEX-2018" will attract more than 10,000 visitors interested in the field of armaments and defense industries.
The exhibition hosts 373 international companies from 41 countries, including 42 U.S. companies, 37 French companies, 28 Chinese companies and 13 Russian companies.