A good show is good for business and Gulf Print & Pack 2017 proved that it is a key event to discuss investment in the Middle East, with some AED 30 million in machinery sold at the show.
Gulf Print & Pack
The exhibition, which took place from March 26th-29th at the Dubai World Trade Centre, hosted more than 200 exhibitors representing the leading printing and packaging technology innovators.
Returning exhibitor PRIME UV was one of the dozens of companies that made sales right off the stand.
Erich Midlik, Executive Vice-President, said: "Exhibiting for the fourth consecutive time, PRIME UV-IR Systems once again achieved much success at Gulf Print & Pack. PRIME closed several orders on all three of its new products launched earlier this year."
Member of the Prestige Graphics Trading Board of Directors Jabir Jabbar added: "Gulf Print & Pack 2017 was a roaring success for Prestige Graphics. It is a great opportunity for us to connect with old customers and meet new ones.”
Aimed at commercial and packaging printers, the four-day show was a key strategic opportunity for the latest technologies and consumables to be officially launched into the Middle East market.
There was a very strong international delegation from over 110 countries, including from emerging markets such as Iran whose contingent included SPS Complex, a producer of packaging films.
"It was a positive event where we had many visits from our current customers and some new customers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, Iran, Kuwait, Lebanon, Jordan, India and Pakistan and we took this opportunity to introduce our company for sourcing and supplying quality second hand equipment," said Osama Diab from Gutenberg.
As highlighted by Smithers Pira in its latest report, the economic outlook for the Middle East’s print industry is very positive with the market’s value expected to reach $24 billion in 2017.
While worldwide growth has marginally slowed in the commercial print sector, the biggest boom has been seen in the label and package field. Global demand is shifting towards digitisation and short run print jobs and this was reflected in the make-up of exhibitors.
Ernest Azzam, Regional Business Manager for Large Format Printing MEMA, HP, stated: "Digital printing continues to grow in the region, as industries benefit from the innovative ways the technology allows companies to reach their end customers. This year’s edition of Gulf Print & Pack gave us a platform to showcase our latest products and solutions to visitors and hear back from partners on market opportunities and challenges. We ended on a high note with leads on our PageWide XL, Latex and DesignJet products, which is a testament to the growing interest in our unique latex printing and PageWide technology.”
"We are delighted to have received such positive feedback from both exhibitors and visitors who came to this year’s show," said Lisa Mulburn, Managing Director of Gulf Print & Pack. "This is a further testament to the growth prospects of the commercial and package printing sector in this part of the world, and certainly cement’s the UAE’s position as a vital hub that promotes business in this still developing industry throughout the region. We’ve had a fantastic show this year and are looking forward to welcoming more exhibitors and visitors in our next edition."
With optimism high among industry stakeholders, Gulf Print & Pack will return to Dubai from April 15th-18th 2019 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.