DUBAI- The 7th edition of Paper Arabia 2014, the biggest to date, kicks off tomorrow (Sunday 21st September) in Zabeel Hall 1 of the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, announced Al Fajer Information and Services, organisers of the event.
Revealing details of exhibitors at a press conference held today (Saturday 20th September 2014), Al Fajer revealed China and Indonesia account for over a quarter of the paper brought into the UAE. These two countries export more paper to the UAE ($1.04 billion) than Germany, USA, Italy, Sweden and UK put together ($ 974 million), according to statistics released by Dubai Customs as well as UN Comtrade studies.
Lamyae Zafati, Exhibition Manager, Al Fajer Information and Services, organizers of Paper Arabia 2014 said: “We are fully geared to inaugurate the largest Paper Arabia to date. The show is 25% bigger than previous edition, which demonstrates robustness of the paper industry in the UAE and regionally, in products as well as machinery.”
She added: “Corrugated and carton industries have been added to the line-up in this edition. Leading companies specialised in this field will be present at the show.”
Zafati added: “The previous edition of the show saw attendance of more than 6500 trade visitors from 48 countries; we expect this number to cross 8000 in this year’s edition due to the fact that more companies are exhibiting.”
Paper Arabia attracts key players in paper and tissues production, in addition to manufacturers of paper remittances from the Middle East and the world. The exhibition also provides an opportunity for major machinery manufacturing firms and other service providers to showcase their latest innovations.
The show has attracted participation from the UAE, China, Czech Republic, Egypt, Libya, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Norway, Pakistan, Taiwan, Netherlands, UK and USA.
Zafati added that paper consumers in the world are looking at Dubai as an alternative hub for Europe due to its cost effectiveness and speed of delivery, making it a strong candidate for acquiring lead position in this industry.
Talking about the tissues industry, Zafati said: “Although production capacity of paper tissues in the UAE is very high, factories in the UAE have plans to increase their export to neighboring countries, on the strength of their advanced world class machineries used in the production of these products.”
The exhibition has also attracted companies specialised in tissues, packaging and recycling products.
Zafati added: “The UAE paper industry is witnessing dramatic growth due to the increasing number of manufacturers and significant development of paperwork conversion industry in recent years. Paper conversion sector includes producing all major paper products such envelopes, paper bags, cardboard and others.”
The paper, tissue and converting industries will be displaying latest technologies at the show. A wide array of machinery products targeting paper mills will be displayed, along with a range of household paper for end users.
The show has attracted leading players from the paper, tissue and converting industry. It offers opportunities for manufactures and suppliers of finished products, equipment, machinery, paper chemicals, services, supplies of paper, tissue and converting sector to access the Middle East, North Africa as well as Asian markets.
Zafati summed up: “The paper industry market is growing tremendously, year on year, and new products are being launched on a regular basis. New companies are launching business in this field. Soft packaging is seeing high demand. Corrugated paper is being used for new patterns. Tissue paper is being recycled. Green campaigns are running in most of the countries. We anticipate huge success for Paper Arabia.”
