The inaugural Saudi Arabia Coatings Show has been hailed as a success by exhibitors and visitors alike.
The sold-out, three-day exhibition took place in Dammam, KSA, and welcomed more than 3000 unique visitors. Exhibitors noted that they were pleased with the quality and quantity of the visitors, with many customers coming from all over Saudi Arabia and the surrounding areas, as well as further afield.
Ryan Moore, Managing Director of Xtrutech, said: "It’s been very busy and we’ve had some really good companies come along; global ones as well, not just local. It’s been good for us, with lots of enquiries… In Saudi we have one or two customers and we could do with many more and that’s why we’re here; it’s ideal for that.”
Echoing this sentiment, Tahsine Al Altrache, General Manager, Brenntag KSA, noted: "We are so happy to have been part of such an incredible event, also delighted from the significant number of attendees. All locals players came to the show, we can also see people from all over the Middle East region, so for us this first version of the Coating show in Saudia Arabia is a real success." Aziz Faizullah, COO of Al Azzaz Chemicals, agreed: "What we have seen in this exhibition compared to others is the high concentration of quality people related to the Coating Industry. I would say 90%+ were people who we would do, or like to do, business with. In other exhibitions, the ratio of quality people are much lesser. This show stands out from that point of view."
More than 150 companies had a presence at the Saudi Arabia Coatings Show, hailing from more than 15 countries around the world. The current and potential growth in the Saudi Arabian construction market was commonly cited by exhibitors as a key reason to be at the show, which provided a platform to meet with local paint manufacturers such as Jazeera Paints, Sigma Paints and National Paints, all of which sent top level decision makers to attend the event.
John Britto, Director, Sales & Marketing for Saudi Arabia’s Jana Jubail, noted: "Saudi is an ever-growing market with a lot of new avenues opening, which the government is well encouraging and supporting… [The show] is a good platform to meet our regular customers, as well as have good interaction with prospective customers. Overall, it was a very good medium to meet and have face-to-face interactions.”
Anand Kumar V, Director and Founder, AquaChemie, also noted the importance of Saudi Arabia’s upcoming construction boom for the coatings industry: "Saudi is growing in leaps and bounds and a lot of new projects have been announced… when it comes to paints and coatings, real estate developments across the GCC are growing and that is driving the growth.
"We are happy with the response. We can see a lot of Saudi customers coming in, more than we expected… Exhibitions like this give us visibility; being a new entrant into paints and coatings, this is a great platform for us to be here, to reach out to the maximum number of customers.”
The next Middle East Coatings Show will take place in Egypt in June this year. For information about any of the upcoming Coatings Group exhibitions, visit http://www.coatings-group.com or email andrewgathercole@dmgevents.com
