Gulf Pack 2004, the sixth packaging event held by Fairs & Exhibitions (F&E), promises to be the most significant yet, impacting on the region’s manufacturers, traders and end-users of packaging machinery, consumables and services.

With governments pushing for diversification away from oil revenues and entrepreneurs responding by setting up all kinds of manufacturing enterprises including ones in the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors, the need for packaging products has assumed great importance.  No longer is packaging merely an item to contain the product just manufactured; it is an entire concept that takes on issues of security and health safety as well as maintenance of the integrity of the product, for example flavour.
Unsurprisingly the organisers of Gulf Pack received an enthusiastic response. The region’s packaging market is growing at a brisk pace, and forums such as Gulf Pack are providing opportunities for displaying trend-setting technologies, products and services as well as winning contracts. By July 10 close to 100 international and regional exhibitors, including some of the biggest guns in the industry, had signed up for the event, which will be held at Dubai Airport Expo Centre from September 19 to 22. Particularly strong is the representation from China, Taiwan and India. A number of trading companies on the list will promote products from high-profile principals.
Visitors can expect to see an array of equipment for bag and sack making; blister and skin packaging; bottle moulding; closures and closing machinery; coding/marking; flexible packaging; food processing; form; fill and sealing; heat sealing; injection moulding; shrink and stretch wrapping; vacuum forming; tin plate; carton making and bottle and can making; among other things.
Gulf Pack 2004 is a repackaged and rebranded version of Fairs & Exhibitions’ earlier Packtech shows. “Packtech 2003 was a proven industry success generating top-quality visitors and excellent sales results,” the company said. As many as 20 per cent of visitors had a buying power of more than $500,000 while contracts worth $3 million were signed at the expo itself with probably another $12 million realised in subsequent months. The name was changed to make it more focused on the industry it represents and the region it is hosted in and also to give it a clear identity, differentiating it from its sister show, Gulf Print, which will be held simultaneously with Gulf Pack at the same venue.
Gulf Pack has moved beyond being merely a platform for exhibitors. It initiated the launch of a UAE packaging association and, thanks to its efforts, the Asian Packaging Federation (APF) was inspired to meet local packaging representatives with a view to forming such a group. The UAE association is likely to be formally instituted at Gulf Pack 2004. The PR company Momentum has designed a logo for the UAE body.
Accompanying the World Packaging Organisation (WPO) secretary-general Carl Osmats, who will formally open the show, will be WPO vice-president Dharmatilake Ratnayake, who is also the president of the APF and a strong supporter of the proposed UAE association. He believes the UAE is a natural starting point for such a group. “Its purpose would be to exchange ideas, provide information, statistics and training to establish a process of certification and provide better, more efficient packaging solutions for industry and consumers alike.” Ratnayake observed there was much emphasis on recycling and waste management issues within the APF and “we look forward to sharing these with our colleagues in the Gulf area.”
  “We are delighted to announce the support of both groups. The involvement of the WPO and APF will help us spread the message about the business opportunities in the Middle East industry to a global audience,” said Gulf Pack project manager Sharla Hancock.                                                
Gulf Pack is also helping identify creative talent among the young with a view to bringing promising youths to the notice of the industry. It has instituted an award for UAE students, which it hopes will be extended in time to other Gulf states.  The students were required to prepare a design for a cardboard box. They had to decide which product they were packaging, then design a new box for it along with the graphics to go on the box and product branding.
Judging the entries was a panel chaired by Professor Maureen Wayman, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of the Faculty of Art and Design, Manchester Metropolitan University. Canada’s EngView Systems Corporation sponsored the packaging design awards. “They were keen to support the event as the Gulf Pack awards provided a platform to present their unique CAD/CAM design software applications exclusively created for the packaging design industry,” F&E said. EngView has generously donated two software packages, one for the winning college and one for the winning student.
The award ceremony and prize giving will take place at the Gulf Pack Gulf Print Exhibition on September 20. The event will provide all participating students and colleges with another chance to show off their entries and meet with the sponsors.
“This year’s awards will be the start of a new initiative in the UAE,” said Hancock. “We aim to encourage universities and students to think more seriously about packaging design and to make use of the many international packaging companies based here to further advance the packaging needs of the Gulf communities.”
Hancock commented that the award would “tie in very nicely with the creation of the UAE’s first packaging association.”
The event will also be an opportunity for those in the industry to widen their horizons. Among the several workshops and seminars taking place will be a seminar presented by Tetra Pak, the world leader in liquid processing and packaging.
“The Middle East has always been an important market for us,” said the company’s business development director. “It was one of the first export regions for Tetra Pak some 45 years ago and continues to mark new milestones in growth. We aim to remain at the forefront of liquid food development by working with our customers in the region to ensure steady progress within an ever-increasing competitive consumerist marketplace.
“The seminar will focus on the three main categories: dairy, beverage and foods during which time we shall share global experiences in category leadership, new developments and new trends with visitors attending the event.”
It is expected that sponsors and exhibitors will host workshops on topical issues in an arena staged in the exhibition halls.
The VIP opening ceremony on September 19 will be followed by the first session of the Gulf Pack seminar programme with the keynote address presented by Olsmats.
London-headquartered F&E has operated in Europe, the US, Latin America, the Middle East and Asia. Since 1976, the company has intensified its role in the Middle East, organising trade shows that have introduced hundreds of companies to the vital and lucrative markets of the region.   F&E will be staging the Dubai Air Show in November 2005, which is now ranked as one of the most important world events for the aviation, aerospace and defence industries.