Preparations for the second Gulf Industry Fair 2009 are proceeding at brisk pace with renewed interest in evidence at what is billed as the only major industrial exhibition for the Northern Gulf.

Hilal Conferences & Exhibitions (HCE), the event’s organiser, reports that 85 per cent of exhibition space has been booked and indications are that it will be fully booked before doors open on January 13 at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre. The show runs through January 15 with some of the leading industrial and trading establishments set to showcase their goods and services. Key sponsors of the fair are First Leasing Bank of Bahrain and Baytik Industrial Oasis, which is a project of Kuwait Finance House (KFH)-Bahrain.
With infrastructure development continuing and the concomitant need for equipment supplies and technology having to be fulfilled, the fair remains a valid proposition for those shopping for their requirements both for current projects and those contemplated.
More than at any time in the past the need is felt for machinery and technology that lend a cutting edge, are cost-effective and features-full and deliver faster with greater efficiency.
Bahrain-based HCE managing director Jubran Abdulrahman is confident the second Gulf Industry Fair will beat the previous one in exhibitor participation.
Abdulrahman said some second-time participants had booked larger floor space including Bahrain’s Oilfield and Technical Supplies Centre (OTSC) and Saudi Arabia’s industrial equipment specialist Khusheim, the latter more than doubling its space to 216 sq m.
Pan Gulf Welding Solutions has booked 252 sq m, the largest pavilion space for any exhibitor at the event.
Scores of firms both within the Gulf and outside including several from Europe are expected to turn out for the fair well equipped with their latest offerings and ready to convince potential buyers.
Two of the first-time exhibitors are European firms Absortech International AB of Sweden and Micro Abrasives GmbH from Germany.
Absortech will launch in the Middle East its moisture-control products. The company manufactures and markets a complete range of container desiccants.
Its products Absorpole, Absorbag, Absortop and Absorgel reduce humidity to prevent condensation-related damages on goods for shipments in sea containers.
All products are based on the proven ability of calcium chloride to aggressively remove moisture from the air, Absortech says.
“The moisture absorbers protect your cargo and eliminate the damaging effects of moisture such as corrosion, mould, mildew, peeling labels, wet packaging material and bad odours.”
Absorpole, Absorbag, Absortop and Absorgel are suitable for a wide range of exports and sensitive goods, including metal products, agricultural products, paper, wooden products, leather, garments, electronics and pharmaceuticals, the company says.
Absortech Asia Pacific is responsible for marketing and distribution in the Middle East.
 Among the UK firms that have confirmed their participation are the British Offset Office, Welding Alloys Group and Machinery Market.
German firms that have come on board include Meba Metall, Boschert, Messer Cutting and Welding, UTP Schweibmaterial, Schaefer Werkzuegbau, Kemper and Farros Grinding.
Bohler Schweisstechnik of Austria and Haeusler of Switzerland are also erecting stands as are GBC Industrial Tools and Maus Italia from Italy and Juaristi from Spain.
Saudi firms taking part include Alruqee Trading & Contracting and Alruqee Technical Services Company, MH Sherbiny and Ashcroft Al Rushaid Instrument Company.
Among the UAE companies are Al Nimr Steel, Haulotte Group, Mabani Steel and Mammut Building Systems.
Bahrain establishments Bapco, General Petrochemicals Industries Company and Banagas will be participating under the umbrella of the National Oil and Gas Authority (Noga). Fair exhibitors from Bahrain include Arabian Ship Repair Yard, Bahrain Industrial Group and the General Organisation for Sea Ports.   Other Gulf firms include Kirby Building Systems of Kuwait.
Gulf Industry Fair 2009 is the most features-packed of its kind in the Middle East with 10 specialised segments: Gulf Aluminium, Gulf Metal, Gulf Machine Tools, Gulf Industrial Equipment, Gulf Energy, Gulf Metrology, Gulf Logistics, Gulf Automation, Gulf manufacturing, and Industrial Areas and Free Zones.
All the segments featured have made remarkable progress during the past 20 years, putting the Gulf on the world stage in some of them. The surge in aluminium capacities in the region is well known as is the tremendous strides made in logistics and industrial areas and free zones.
The wider world is now increasingly looking at what the Gulf has to offer. What was a backwater only a few decades ago is now a centre of hectic industrial activity incorporating some of the latest technologies and best examples of infrastructure.
Gulf Industry Fair will provide visitors a perspective of that transformation through the showcased innovations and solutions.
The fair enjoys the support of Bahrain’s Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bahrain Exhibitions and Conventions Authority, Junior Chamber International (JCI), the Russian-Arab Business Council, and Jella Jella of the Netherlands.