Welcome remarks
Strengthening the Defense Industry is Strengthening Colombia
After 15 years of success, Expodefensa reaches its tenth edition in 2025. This edition aims to be the most ambitious and productive yet, targeting over 10,000 professional visitors and attracting at least 220 exhibitors.
At this historic and iconic event for national security, we will demonstrate to the world our ability to advance toward technological self-sufficiency and national sovereignty.
Historically, this sector has been one of the main drivers of technological innovation thanks to its mission and purpose. However, we understand that security cannot be conceived solely from a military or logistical perspective.
In today’s world, the nations that move forward are those that recognize that investing in this field means investing in science, technology, and knowledge.
Colombia is ready to consolidate itself as a national engine of transformation. We aspire to strengthen an innovation ecosystem based on the quintuple helix model, which integrates government, industry, academia, civil society, and the environment.
From this vision emerges our initiative “Fuerza Innovación” (Innovation Force), a model designed to move beyond the perception of a closed sector and transform it into a space for collaboration, technology transfer, and collective growth.
At Expodefensa 2025, we will reaffirm that 21st-century threats are a global challenge requiring coordinated action among nations, guided by a modern, democratic, and multidimensional vision.
It is not just about producing equipment; it is about creating value chains that drive science, engineering, local industry, and regional development with an inclusive approach.
Every product, service, or component developed to strengthen our Armed Forces must translate into growth opportunities for Colombian companies, as well as for foreign firms that trust and invest in our country.
Let us make Colombia a regional benchmark in technological development for national security and protection. The government is committed to this goal, and through the Ministry of National Defense, we will continue working to ensure that our Armed Forces become increasingly prepared, technological, and innovative.
The Ministry of National Defense does not seek merely suppliers; it seeks partners in nation-building. For this reason, we see Expodefensa 2025 as a key platform to generate high-quality economic development, promote technology transfer, and advance toward greater industrial self-sufficiency.
Security is science, innovation, and talent; it is the sum of collective efforts that ensures national progress. Expodefensa 2025 will consolidate itself as a leading platform for technological development and innovation in service of those who protect Colombia.
The High Technology Corporation for Defense – CODALTEC extends a warm welcome to all exhibitors and participants of EXPODEFENSA 2025, a strategic venue designed to bring together technological, industrial, and operational capabilities applicable to defense and security.
We thank you for your presence and for the commitment you have shown in promoting advanced solutions aimed at strengthening sovereignty and helping to build conditions for peace and prosperity. In this edition, we highlight the importance of collaboration among public institutions, private industry, and academia to accelerate innovation processes and to consolidate products and services that meet the highest standards of quality and performance.
We invite every attendee to explore the technological advancements and integrated projects developed to address the current and future needs of the defense sector, industry, and the scientific community. Your participation contributes to expanding collective knowledge and fostering partnerships that enhance the development of peaceful conditions across the regions.
For CODALTEC, it is an honor to welcome you and to place our capabilities at your disposal, with the conviction that this event will generate concrete, measurable, and sustainable results. We wish you a highly productive experience focused on identifying opportunities and building impactful solutions for hemispheric defense and security.
For the past decade, Coges Events has had the honor of jointly organizing Expodefensa alongside Corferias, the Colombian Ministry of Defense, and CODALTEC. This partnership has enabled the event to become one of the major gatherings for defense and security in Latin America, as well as a leading platform for industry worldwide. For this tenth edition, Coges Events reaffirms its commitment to applying its expertise to a trade show capable of addressing the strategic challenges of our time.
The 2025 edition takes place in a global environment marked by intensifying challenges: climate change, drug trafficking, migration, regional tensions, the resurgence of high-intensity conflicts, and profound technological transformations driven by artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, energy, and autonomous systems. In this complex landscape, Expodefensa positions itself as an essential venue for dialogue, cooperation, and solutions that support security, economic development, and the protection of populations.
This year’s program will feature three theme-driven days developed in coordination with the Colombian Ministry of Defense. They will highlight issues related to emerging technologies, innovation, and digital sovereignty through expert presentations and demonstrations illustrating current operational needs.
This edition will also welcome around forty high-level official and institutional delegations. Their participation confirms Expodefensa’s role as a strategic platform where decision-makers can gather information, assess existing solutions, strengthen cooperation, and identify the technological capabilities best suited to their operational requirements.
Coges Events extends its sincere appreciation to Corferias, the Colombian Ministry of Defense, and CODALTEC for their continued trust. Special thanks are also addressed to the show’s exhibitors, partners, and visitors: they are the driving force and the very soul of Expodefensa, and they contribute directly to its international reach.
With a strong Defense Industrial and Technological Base, Colombia reaffirms its role as a regional and global hub—capable of hosting an event where innovation, cooperation, and strategic vision converge.
As an international organizer of major defense and security exhibitions, Coges Events is proud to contribute to this collective dynamic. Together, let us build the security and defense capabilities of today and tomorrow.
Coges Events wishes everyone much success at Expodefensa 2025.
Each edition of Expodefensa offers an opportunity to look toward the future with a renewed vision of the role that innovation, cooperation, and technology play in building safer societies. In a global environment undergoing constant transformation—where security and defense challenges demand joint responses—this exhibition has solidified itself as a strategic forum for dialogue, knowledge exchange, and the projection of Latin America’s talent and technological capabilities.
Since its creation, Expodefensa has gone beyond the concept of a commercial fair to become a platform for international cooperation, where government, industry, and academia converge with a shared purpose: strengthening response capabilities to security challenges and promoting technological development with a human-centered approach. In this space, innovation is no longer an end in itself, but a means to protect lives, drive sustainability, and generate progress for communities.
In this 2025 edition, more than 230 exhibitors from over 25 countries—including international pavilions from Brazil, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, France, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Argentina, and the United Kingdom—will gather at Corferias to showcase new technologies, equipment, and solutions aimed at enhancing security, community protection, and emergency response. Over the course of three days, nearly 10,000 visitors will have the opportunity to attend live demonstrations, participate in expert-led conferences, and explore projects that integrate technology with international cooperation.
The 2025 edition reaffirms the strong and forward-looking partnership between COGES Events and Corferias, as well as the essential support of the National Government, the Ministry of Defense, and CODALTEC—whose leadership enables Expodefensa to continue strengthening its position as a global benchmark. Thanks to this collective effort, Bogotá will once again become the meeting point for industrial, technological, and operational capabilities from all five continents, and a space for knowledge exchange and the strengthening of regional alliances.
At Corferias, we firmly believe in the transformative power of trade fairs: spaces that drive competitiveness, internationalization, and the sustainable growth of productive sectors. Expodefensa embodies this mission. It is a gathering where technology meets knowledge, innovation becomes cooperation, and security is understood as a collective commitment to well-being.
I invite all participants, partners, and visitors to take an active role in this global conversation on the challenges and opportunities that will shape the future of defense and security in our region.
Welcome to Expodefensa 2025—an exhibition for those who believe in innovation with purpose, in the defense of life, and in cooperation as the path toward a safer and more resilient future for all.
The Ministry of National Defense of Colombia
The High Technology Corporation
Organizer of International Defence & Security Exhibitions such as Eurosatory
