There is clearly a tremendous amount of potential inthis market. Many of the services and gadgets fuelling the boom could have been plucked from the pages of aspy novel. More prosaic features, such as car park barriers, door locks and CCTV, lackthe glamorous image of James Bond-style gadgetry. But from a business point of view, they are highly lucrative. Because of the growth factor in this region, there is a lot of demandfor that basic level of security.
Hotels are another growth area.
Each room requires a lock andprobably has a safe. While private firms and individuals concentrate on protecting themselves and their property,governments invest vast sums in prevention and detection measures, particularly at ports andairports. The terrorist risk is very low at the moment, but I don't think we can afford to beany less strict about airport security. The Dutch National Police Agency regards the Middle East as a terrorist hub. It is aggressively targeting its counter-terrorism products at the region's airports, particularlyits forged travel document detector.