Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania on Wednesday attended a gala dinner hosted by the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of KADDB's operations in the defence industries sector.

The ceremony at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Center at the Dead Sea gathered companies and organisations working in defense industries and interested in the activities of KADDB.

Also on Wednesday, KADDB signed five agreements on joint cooperation with major European and US defence companies. These agreements are expected to increase KADDB's worker force and will reflect positively on technology transfer and worker training, KADDB Chairman and CEO Moayad Samman said following the signing ceremony.

The five agreements are: an agreement with the Turkish Aselsan to establish with KADDB a joint production and marketing company for night vision and thermal imaging technologies in Jordan; an agreement with the Netherlands' Stratagem Group to cooperate with KADDB in the development and maintenance of F-16 aircraft; a deal with Italy's Selex Galileo to cooperate on the design and development of unmanned aerial vehicles; an agreement with Belgium's Securitas Company to establish a joint company security services and systems; and an agreement with B.A.E. systems on the development of military vehicles.

KADDB was established by Royal Decree on 24 August 1999 to provide an indigenous capacity for the supply of independent, high-quality, efficient and cost-effective scientific and technical services to the Jordan Armed Forces.

During the ceremony, the attendees were presented a film documenting KADDB's achievements over the past 10 years.