Gulf Industry Fair 2008 has been voted a massive success by exhibitors, with more than 50 per cent already booking up for the second edition of the show in January next year.

The three-day exhibition was held at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre.
“We may not have had huge numbers of visitors but the quality of the businessmen who attended and their keenness to do business has been praised by the exhibitors,” said Al Hilal Group managing director Ronnie Middleton.
He said that as organisers they had received plaudits from the businesses that participated this year. They were particularly impressed with the number of serious industry professionals who attended the show.
And next year the event is likely to be bigger and better.
“We have one of the exhibitors who took the largest space this year already saying ‘we want twice as much next year’ and people are queuing up to come back,” Middleton said.
“The advent of the GCC common market is likely to be a big boost for this show as trade between the countries in the region expands and the local economies become a single global player.
“This has been a good springboard for next year and has shown that Bahrain is the right venue for business to business exhibitions and conferences for the Northern Gulf.
“The exhibitors were all pleased with the organisation and marketing of the show and we will keep up those high standards to serve them next year.”
Alruquee Group brought 26 of its clients to the show and expects to bring even more next year.
Executive director Saad S Alikhan, who booked the largest area of any exhibitors for his international business colleagues, has already decided to more than double the floor space at Gulf Industry Fair 2009.
“This show has been a huge success. I am very happy and the people I brought here from all over Europe are very happy,” he said.
“These people are already looking forward to next year’s show. I have more than 50 clients and I expect to add at least another 10 for the event next year.”
Alikhan added:  “It has been very well organised and I would like to congratulate the Al Hilal Group for putting this together,” he added.  “We worked very closely with them to make this a success.”
That was a view echoed by Gulf Pan Welding Solutions general manager Andy Leigh.
“We have made a lot of sales, particularly in Saudi Arabia from crossing the Causeway and coming to Bahrain,” Leigh said.
“We have done a lot of business and also have some very strong inquiries which we will be working on when we go home. We are definitely coming back next year when our stand will be bigger and better. For a first time event it was tremendous.”
Spanish milling and turning machinery specialists Lagun have also decided to return to Bahrain for next year’s event.
“We are expecting to close some deals after the show and sign one before the show ends,” said managing director Jorge Arriola.
“It has been a success for us and we are very happy. It was actually much better than we expected,” he added.
Bahrain Industrial Filters manager Rajeev Sood said they would also be taking part next year after getting very good responses from both Saudi and local customers.
“We have got some very strong inquiries which we are working on,” Sood said.
“The turnout was a bit disappointing on the first day, but then it picked up and the quality of visitors was very high. They were people who were serious about doing business.”
Local company Gulf Temperature Sensors also pledged to come to the next show.
“We made a lot of positive contacts and have agreements with a number of companies who want to buy our products,” said operations manager V Swami Nathan.
Bahrain-based industrial and engineering trading company Al Mahroos had two stands at this year’s event and is already looking forward to the second edition of the show.
“We did some good business and met a lot of potential new customers,” said GCC sales manager Tawfiq Hojair.
Close to 100 companies from 19 countries participated in its various components, namely Gulf Aluminium, Gulf Metal, Gulf Energy, Gulf Metrology, Gulf Logistics, Gulf Automation, Gulf Manufacturing and Industrial Areas and Free Zones. It was the first time the region had seen such a wide-ranging exposition at one site.
Some 30 of the exhibitors came from Europe.
HCE organised the event in co-operation with Hannover Messe, part of Deutsche Messe. Strategic partners for the event were Bapco, Zamil Industrial and First Leasing.
Minister for Industry and Commerce Dr Hassan Fakhro, who opened the show, praised the efforts of the organisers in bringing such a high-quality show to Bahrain.
 “Gulf Industry Fair 2008 is one of the most important exhibitions in the region as a whole, as it includes a large number of prominent names in various fields of industry all over the world,” he said.
Visitors evinced keen interest in the range of machinery on display and the information made available to them by the exhibitors.
Dr Fakhro  appeared impressed as he stopped for some time to watch a live demonstration of German manufacturer Trumpf Werkzeugmaschinen’s TruPunch 1000 model which punched holes quickly into a thick metal sheet.
Trumpf products are distributed in Saudi Arabia by Alruqee Group. Taiwan’s Kent Industrial and Germany’s Meba put on show surface grinders and metal bandsawing machines respectively. Alruqee is the Saudi agent for both firms.
Fred Rijneveld, sales manager of Germany’s Wikus, said his company, another Alruqee Group principal, came with bandsaw blades that Wikus manufactures. The company’s marketing slogan is:  “Precision at the cutting point.” Wikus blades have applications in steel production, machine construction, automotives, the aerospace industry and the buildings sector. They are also a raw material for making solar panels.
Mesacon Messelektronic’s vice president Detlef Jarhrling voiced appreciation for the organisation of the fair.  Mesacon, which makes gauges, took part for the first time in a Gulf expo. “We have many potential customers in this region,” he said. The company’s regional customers include Saudi Arabia’s Hadeed and Gulf Aluminium Rolling Mills of Bahrain.
Haulotte Group, experts in people and equipment lifting machines, displayed four models of actual work platforms. The company has set up a regional office in Dubai to serve the wider Middle East region.
Matt Stalker of UK-based Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChem E) was impressed with the general set up at GIF 2008. “It’s bigger than we expected and it looks very good,” he said.
Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation, Aqaba National Real Estate Company and Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (Aseza) were among the prominent exhibitors.
Ibrahim A Al-Majali, Aseza’s business development and marketing officer, said his company’s investment drive was bearing fruit in the Gulf with several companies in the region including Kuwait-based logistics services provider Agility investing in the economic zone.
Al-Majali said Aseza would pay more attention to industrial projects, the reason why it decided to participate in the fair.
One of Britain’s most respected companies, Azon UK Ltd, found it worthwhile to project its product offerings at GIF 2008.
Phil Davies, Azon’s technical manager, was explaining to visitors how its structural thermal barrier polymer for aluminum windows and warm-edge spacers for insulating glass had enabled architectural icons to save valuable energy resources.
For Hungary’s SandMark, GIF 2008 was an important introduction to the region. SandMark, which provides turnkey sales and marketing solutions incorporating information technology for medium and large-sized businesses, has announced it is setting up its regional base in Bahrain.