The GCC is fast attracting an increasing number of top international players from the horticulture industry, as local governments and the region’s booming construction sector put more emphasis on creating greener environments.
Exhibitors and visitors at International Plants Expo Middle East (IPM Dubai), emphasised the importance of green areas to the region’s progress and highlighted Dubai’s increasing prominence as a strategic gateway linking the Asian and European markets.
IPM Dubai was organised by planetfair Dubai LLC and Messe Essen GmbH, Germany, under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman of the Emirates Group.
Commenting on the success of the event, Sheikh Ahmed said: “IPM Dubai is helping Dubai develop into a worldwide trading centre for plants and flowers.”
Michael Mueller, Managing Director, IPM Dubai added: “We see IPM Dubai as an important step forward for the region’s emerging plant and flower industry. With new players entering the market, local suppliers can now interact closely with experts to offer greater diversity in their own services.”
The second edition of IPM Dubai 2007, held at the Airport Expo Dubai from March 6-8, explored international horticultural trends and saw top experts fly into Dubai to interact with their local counterparts and research setting up operations in the region.
This year’s show more than doubled in terms of the number of participants and exhibition space over last year – a trend Mueller attributed directly to the increasing importance of the GCC to international horticulturists. The total number of exhibitors was 200 while visitor footfall rose by 63 per cent, with visitors from 58 countries from across the world. GCC residents formed the bulk of the visitor traffic.
IPM Dubai 2007 witnessed a total of 2,484 trade visitors made up of 1,740 UAE visitors, an increase of 44 per cent over 2006. The show attracted around 750 international buyers, 38 per cent from the wider Middle East including the GCC and Iran, while the European Union accounted for 27 per cent of the total foreign visitors.
Egon Galinnis, Managing Director of Messe Essen, said: "The number of visitors has exceeded our expectations. The demand for horticultural products is increasing at an exponential pace – from the cut flowers to landscaping of gardens and parks. We have scored a hit with the venue of Dubai, the commercial hub at the intersection between the European, Asian and African continents.”
Visitors to the three-day show saw a wealth of gardening and landscaping ideas, with attractive small gardens and colourful floral displays from more than 200 of the world’s best nurseries and specialist growers. Plant lovers could also enjoy intricate flower arrangements as well as gain important gardening advice from leading experts.
The exhibition was also supported by the Dubai Flower Centre, the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation Authority, Dubai Municipality and the Ministry of Environment and Water.
Ibrahim Ahli, Marketing Director of Dubai Flower Centre, said that the show was an excellent opportunity for both exhibitors and visitors to discuss the latest trends that have an impact on the regional floricultural and horticultural industry.
“The show underlined the increasing importance that international horticulturists are attaching to Dubai as a strategic hub for the industry and we are keen to nurture this positive trend by continuing to support such industry-specific events in the region,” Ahli said.
One of the important issues that formed the focus of the three-day event was the challenge of desertification, with special relevance to the Middle East. Mueller added that many global horticulture experts were aware of the region’s soil and climate conditions and had also developed their own solutions to combat this.
IPM Dubai 2007 housed national pavilions from Colombia, Egypt, Germany, Taiwan, and South Africa. Other countries participating in the show included Australia, Belgium, China, Ecuador, France, Ghana, India, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Ukraine, UAE, and the UK.
