The 17th edition of Malaysia’s premier maritime and aerospace exhibition, the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (LIMA), has been officially launched in Kuala Lumpur by the country’s Deputy Defence Minister Adly bin Zahari.
LIMA 2025 will be held between 20 May and 24 May 2025 with the theme of “Innovate Today, Thrive Tomorrow.”
The show, which is held biennially on the island of Langkawi in the state of Kedah, is a collaboration between the Malaysian Ministry of Defence (MINDEF) and Global Exhibitions and Conferences (GEC) as well as other strategic partners including the Malaysian Aerospace Industry Association (MAIA), and Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MiGHT), Arabian World Events, QUBE Integrated Malaysia, SHP Media and Curio Pack.
Next year’s iteration of the event will, for the first time, include new component exhibitions as part of the broader program. These include a Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) focused sub-event, which aims to draw participants from both Malaysian and international SMEs to LIMA, as well as various higher education providers with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics expertise (STEM).
SMEs and higher education providers are critical enablers of the "vital” maritime and aerospace industry due in no small part to their people, MINDEF said in a statement. “The [new SME] initiative reflects MINDEF’s unwavering commitment to fostering maritime and aerospace industry development and nurturing human resources within these vital sectors,” the Ministry said.
The new sub-event will take place alongside the established aerospace and maritime events which are held separately at the Mahsuri International Exhibition Centre (MIEC) (aerospace) and Resort World Langkawi (maritime).
Both the maritime and aerospace exhibitions have played host to a variety of critical announcements about Malaysian military capabilities in the past, with a highlight of last year’s iteration being the announcement that the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) will acquire 18 Korea Aerospace Industries FA-50 light fighters, two P.72 (ATR-72 maritime patrol aircraft) from Italy’s Leonardo, as well as three Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI) Anka Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) drones from Türkiye.
Malaysia's MINDEF also announced during the show a leasing arrangement with local company Aerotree to provide four second-hand UH-60A+ Blackhawks to the Malaysian Army (Tentera Darat), though that program has now run into trouble according to media reports, with delivery of the helicopters delayed by more than six months.
The event is also important for Australian industry, particularly SMEs, that are looking to expand into the Southeast Asian market. In 2023, several SMEs participated in the exhibition under the umbrella of the larger Team Defence Australia presence.