Post Event Report NCT Asia 2019

Published:

Kuala Lumpur 22 – 24 October 2019

The 12th edition of NCT Asia successfully took place from October 22nd to 24th 2019 in official partnership with the National Defense University of Malaysia. For its 4th edition in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, we would like to thank all speakers, delegates, sponsors and exhibitors for contributing to another extraordinary CBRNe, C-IED, EOD and demining event. The three-day event kickstarted with a Live Capability Demonstration, followed by two days of conference, exhibition and incredible networking. Thank you to all 300+ participating stakeholders from first responders, to high-level decision-makers, to industry representatives and scientists for increasing our preparedness to Non-Conventional Threats as a team.

October 22nd 2019: Live Capability Demonstration

On day two, the conference was opened by the NCT Asia 2019 conference chairman, the Honorable Guy Roberts, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense, NBC Defense Programs, U.S. Department of Defense whom also contributed to mediating discussions throughout the two days. The first keynote speaker, MG Dato’ Pahlawan Ir. Haji Chapiti bin Haji Redzwan, Commander of the Royal Engineers of the Malaysian Army touched upon the importance of R&D in CBRN, as well as the importance of inter-agency cooperation in the recent Pasir Gudang Chemical Spill earlier this year. BG Yoo Bong Heo, Commander of the ROK Army CBRN School, Republic of Korea, followed with his speech outlining Future CBRN threats & Development of Counter Capability, within the context of the threat the Republic of Korea faces with its neighbor. The themes of interoperability was later echoed by Senior Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Koey Bin Abdullah, the Principal Assistant Director of the Department of Strategic Resources and Technology (START) at the Royal Malaysian Police as he noted his agency’s cooperation with SEARCCT, the Chemistry department, the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Airport Authority, amongst others also present at NCT Asia 2019. Finally, Dr. Norbert Klöpper, presented on behalf of Bruker Optik, Germany, as the head of Business Unit CBRNe by noting the types of Critical Infrastructure we should be protecting from CBRNe Threats

October 23rd 2019: Conference, Expo Tour and BBQ

On day two, the conference was opened by the NCT Asia 2019 conference chairman, the Honorable Guy Roberts, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense, NBC Defense Programs, U.S. Department of Defense whom also contributed to mediating discussions throughout the two days. The first keynote speaker, MG Dato’ Pahlawan Ir. Haji Chapiti bin Haji Redzwan, Commander of the Royal Engineers of the Malaysian Army touched upon the importance of R&D in CBRN, as well as the importance of inter-agency cooperation in the recent Pasir Gudang Chemical Spill earlier this year. BG Yoo Bong Heo, Commander of the ROK Army CBRN School, Republic of Korea, followed with his speech outlining Future CBRN threats & Development of Counter Capability, within the context of the threat the Republic of Korea faces with its neighbor. The themes of interoperability was later echoed by Senior Assistant Commissioner Muhammad Koey Bin Abdullah, the Principal Assistant Director of the Department of Strategic Resources and Technology (START) at the Royal Malaysian Police as he noted his agency’s cooperation with SEARCCT, the Chemistry department, the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Airport Authority, amongst others also present at NCT Asia 2019. Finally, Dr. Norbert Klöpper, presented on behalf of Bruker Optik, Germany, as the head of Business Unit CBRNe by noting the types of Critical Infrastructure we should be protecting from CBRNe Threats.

NCT Asia 2019 Expo Tour

After a bite of amazing Malaysian food during the morning networking break, delegates had the opportunity to join an NCT Expo Tour in groups of 5-10 delegates based on their topics of interest, getting a short demo from all the industry providers relevant to the selected theme: CBRN Decontamination/Medical Countermeasures & PPE; CBRNe Detection & Identification and Explosive Detection/Response. This gave everyone an excellent opportunity to peak at the novel solutions provided by the technology providers.

The afternoon welcomed more high-level speakers including COL Michael Quinn, Deputy Director, Chem Bio Technologies Department, DTRA, USA, representatives from the Science and Technology Research Institute for Defense (STRIDE), BG Dr. Faizal bin Baharuddin, Commanding Officer, 96 Armed Forces Hospital, Armed Forces, Malaysia and from Dr. Richard Yeung Sai Dat, Chief of Service at Acute Emergency Department, Alice Ho Miu Ling Hospital, Hong Kong. Following interesting panel discussions related to difficulties in decontamination as addressed by Mr. Jon Beville, from Heyl, Germany, we welcomed delegates for the unique NCT Asia BBQ sponsored by Bruker Optik and Heyl. Over grilled meats, seafood and great music by the pool of Le Meridien hotel, participants had the opportunity to network over a refreshment in spite of the few drops of rain!

October 24th 2019: Conference, Exhibition and Closing Ceremony

The last day of the event was kickstarted with Assistant Commissioner Murugiah Muthusamy, Deputy Director, Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department, Malaysia’s dynamic presentation addressing the Fire Rescue’s capabilities in responding to CBRN threats and contributions from Emergent BioSolutions and the Malaysian Nuclear Agency. The next session, “Best Practices in Countering the IED Threat” was chaired by CAPT Eric Correll, the Commander of Navy Expeditionary Forces Command Pacific, US Navy welcomed SGM Michael D. Bennet, G-34 Army Protection, HQ US Army Training And Doctrine Command (USTRADOC), USA as well as BG Ponwar from India addressing the threat of IEDs when combined with Chemical Warfare Agents.

The incredible food, as expected in Malaysia (Truly Asia!) was particularly welcomed and appreciated during the event by all delegates! Each break gave the delegates the chance to drop by all the different technology providers, to see which solutions they offer for the CBRNe, EOD and demining threats addressed during the conference sessions. Following this marvelous break sponsored by SIGA Technologies, Senior Superintendent Gilbert Dolot, CBRN Focal Point and Director of Region 7, Bureau of Fire Protection addressed the way forward for the Philippines in terms of CBRN preparedness and response, which was complemented by SAC Normah Binti Ishak, Assistant Director, Counterterrorism Division, Royal Malaysian Police that described some developments in the police investigation of the VX attack at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport on February 13th 2019. Although some elements remain confidential, take-aways from this recent CBRN attack sparked interesting discussions.

The final session focused on demining with national perspectives from Cambodia and Thailand as well as the role of international cooperation between nations as Mr. Sean Burke, Program Manager, US Humanitarian Demining Research and Development Program noted the role his agency played in demining in the region. The closing ceremony welcomed Honorable Guy Roberts, Mr. Ilja Bonsen, Managing Director of IB Consultancy and Ms. Anna Paternnosto, Vice-President of the CBRNe Society, thanking all the speakers, delegates, sponsor and exhibitors and our event partner Lt. Col Victor Feizal bin Knight Victor Ernest from the National Defense University of Malaysia. Once again, thank you for joining us for the 12th edition of the leading CBRNe, C-IED and EOD conference in the region: NCT Asia!

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