Riding on the success of its past edition, the Sharjah Industrial Show, scheduled for 5 to 8 May 2002 at the Expo Centre Sharjah, will be bigger and better, both in terms of the number and quality of exhibitors and visitors, according to the organisers.

The show is dedicated to the growing factory automation, equipment and servicing needs of the Middle East's manufacturing sector, said a spokesman of Expo Centre Sharjah, which is organising the event.

Taiwan, India, Iran and the UAE will participate as groups while the show will also feature exhibitors from Italy, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, among other countries, the spokesman said. Several of the world's industrial brands will also be represented through their offices based in the UAE," he added.

"The show offers manufacturing units in the Arabian Gulf the chance to capitalise on the latest technical advances in their industry for higher productivity and cost-effectiveness of their facilities and operations or to add new product lines to their businesses," the spokesman said.

The event brings together a vast array of industrial goods and services, from components and equipment to cutting-edge machinery and raw materials applicable to a wide range of industries, and is an unrivalled sourcing opportunity, he stressed. "Moreover, it acts as a dynamic forum where end-users from the Arabian Gulf's diverse industries meet and interact with international suppliers."

The show will feature industrial goods and services from industries including construction and building materials, chemicals, hardware, plastics, packaging & printing, electronics, factory automation, electricity & lighting, paper & paper products, base metals and metal products.

Among the highlights is a large pavilion of industrial firms from Taiwan exhibiting world-renowned, leading-edge, industrial goods and services. Also, a separate theme pavilion comprising all companies involved as suppliers of building materials or as contractors in the construction of Expo Centre's new, world-class exhibitions-cum-meetings complex has been organised.

Its previous edition, held last year, saw 150 exhibitors and over 7000 industrialists and industrial traders from over 40 countries visit the four-day show, lured by the prospects of interacting with international and Sharjah-based suppliers of prime manufacturing and automation technology and related products in their line of business. While the construction and interiors segment of the show had the largest presence of exhibitors, the visitor analysis also revealed that this category had the highest percentage. The total business generated from this show, was roughly estimated to be anywhere between $80 and $100 million.

Trade visitors came from Algeria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, China, the Comoros, Egypt, Ethiopia, France, Germany, India, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritania, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Pakistan, Palestine, Qatar, Rwanda, Yemen, Reunion, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Syria, Turkey, the US, the UK and the UAE.