01 June 2010

NOT only did gulfBID continue its winning streak into its fifth edition this year, the premier exhibition in the northern Gulf has also seen the launch of two new affiliated events, further consolidating Bahrain’s position on the calendar of construction and interiors events.

Marketed as the best business-to-business (B2B) event of its kind in the Northern Gulf, this year saw the launch of gulfINTERIORS and Bahrain’s first Green Building Forum alongside gulfBID to add greater value to the event for both exhibitor and visitor. Deals worth millions were signed by various companies at the show, which was officially inaugurated by Bahrain’s Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.
“It’s been a fantastic show,” Dubai-based Alomi Real Wood Floors CEO Albert Douglas said, after signing more than $12 million in orders within the first two days of the annual three-day event.
Alomi signed two deals worth $6.2 million on the first day for the supply of floorboards to two projects in Saudi Arabia. The first deal was for the supply of 5,000 sq m of A-grade German oak valued at $2.9 million to a hotel project in Dammam. The wood will be supplied in three phases starting next month. The second order, worth $3.3 million, is for the supply 7,000 sq m of German oak with an antique finish for a shopping mall project in Al Khobar.

On the second day, the company signed two deals worth $6.2 million for wooden flooring and broadloom carpets. The first $4 million order was from a Bahraini contractor for the supply of 10,000 sq m of custom hand-made English oak with antique finish for high-end luxury apartments at Bahrain’s Reef Island development. The second $2.2 million deal was from a contractor in Jeddah for the supply of 20,000 sq m of custom-made twist-pile broadloom carpet for a hotel and apartment project.
A total of 166 exhibitors from 21 countries participated at this year’s event – 124 at gulfBID (in Hall One) and 42 at gulfINTERIORS (in Hall Two), which ran from May 4 to 8 at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre. It was organised by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE).
In spite of a global recession that has seen similar events across the world cancelled or reduced in size, these shows attracted an increase of almost 80 per cent in the number of visitors this year. A total of 5,990 unique professional trade visitors representing leading construction and interiors companies attended the events, compared with 3,387 unique trade visitors who attended gulfBID last year.
More than 5,552 of the 5,990 visitors were from the GCC countries, including 4,196 from Bahrain, 1,077 from Saudi Arabia and 279 from the rest of the GCC. There were 34 visitors in total from Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt. The total number of international visitors was 404, from Ethiopia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Ireland, Pakistan, Philippines, Sweden, Spain, Turkey, Switzerland, the UK and the US.
“Northern Gulf countries are in the midst of or planning very large strategic investment programmes, which will act as the catalyst for major projects,” said Jubran Abdulrahman managing director of Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE), the organiser of the event.
“In Saudi Arabia, for example, an estimated $400 billion is being spent on infrastructure development over the next five years, while in Qatar $100 billion worth of new projects will be initiated over the same period,” he said.

“HCE aims to help establish Bahrain as the prime exhibitions hub for the Northern Gulf in the run-up to the opening of the new exhibition centre in Sakhir in 2013 and in line with the government’s broader Economic Vision 2030,” Abdulrahman added.
“We believe that by consistently delivering high-calibre exhibitions and conferences in the kingdom such as gulfBID and gulfINTERIORS, which attract dynamic market-leading international companies, HCE is playing a key role in this process,” he said.
gulfBID featured exhibitors representing eight core product categories of building and construction, water technology and environment, air-conditioning and refrigeration, cleaning and maintenance, glass and metal, bathrooms and ceramics, marble and machinery, and construction plant, and machinery and vehicles.
There were major national pavilions from China, Cyprus, Greece, Indonesia (see separate article), Slovakia and the Czech Republic, while companies from Portugal and Indonesia exhibited at the event for the first time.
A total of 10 Chinese companies took part in this year’s gulfBID at a dedicated China pavilion.
 Adding to the international flavour at the twin exhibitions were leading companies from Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Jordan, Malta, Portugal, Thailand, Turkey, and the UK.
These were in addition to a host of regional players, which included those from Kuwait, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, such as Qatar Steel, Perla Lichi Design, Saudi Industries for PVC Windows (Wintek), Al Joaib Furniture Factory and Al Rajhi Steel.
The event saw a total of 46 Bahraini enterprises participating through Tamkeen’s Growth Assistance Scheme. Tamkeen’s support is aimed at enhancing the efficiency, competitiveness and productivity of Bahraini companies in accordance with Economic Vision 2030.
Bahrain exhibitors at the event included the Grnata Group, Al Yusuf Group, Design World Partnership, Apoli Wallcovering, Al Samahiji Trading and Mimco, which is showcasing several of its European principals (see separate article), and others.
“Business has remained pretty strong for us,” said Jaber Al Taweel, group managing director of second-time participant Al Taweel.
“At a time when business is getting better, gulfBID is an excellent venue to communicate with our customers and potential clients for the future,” he added.
Organisations such as the Hamriyah Free Zone Authority in Sharjah targeted the show as an opportunity to meet up with and convince international companies to set up business in the emirate.
“We are not really here to attract Bahraini companies but to meet with the wide range of international players who take part in this show. The show works for us because it has attracted businesses from as far afield as China and Germany,” said Dr Rashid Al Leem, director general.
“We come to Bahrain about twice a year because it is a network destination where companies from all over the world come to do business and these are the people we want to set up operations in our free zone.”

gulfINTERIORS
The debut event – the only interiors exhibition of its type in the Northern Gulf – welcomed trend-setting firms in the categories of contract and residential furniture, interior design services and contracting, textiles and upholstery fabrics, beds and bedding, flooring and wall coverings, lighting, kitchens and bathrooms, art and accessories, ceramics, marble and granite, outdoor living, retail services, hospitality and office fit-out.
The decision to set up a separate interiors and design show alongside the main gulfBID exhibition proved a big hit with exhibitors.
“We received very strong feedback from the participants even on the first day and the general view is that setting up a separate interiors event is just what exhibitors were looking for,” said Abdulrahman.
“gulfBID has always attracted a strong showing both from across the region and internationally, but the advent of gulfINTERIORS exhibition as a standalone event has seen particular interest from international players in the areas of interior design. It has brought in new participants to exhibit their products to customers across the region who are coming to the show and it is going down very well with visitors,” he added.
“With a number of major projects across the region coming to fruition, this is the right time for us to offer gulfINTERIORS, which can help developers add the kind of finish to their projects which they really need,” said HCE exhibitions director Kim Willis.
She said there was a huge void in terms of exhibitions catering specifically to the Northern Gulf’s interiors sectors, adding that HCE would fill that gap and establish gulfINTERIORS as the definitive specialist interiors show for the region.
Bulgaria-based Eurostill business development manager Nikolay Yamaliev, whose company is one of the largest interior door manufacturers in Europe with a factory producing more than 2,000 units a day, said the show was just what he had been looking for to build business across the region.
“We work with our partner Project Management Services in this part of the world and when we heard about this event I immediately thought this is exactly what we have been looking for,” he said.
Prunabon, a Cyprus-based garden furniture specialist, also saw the show as a key to further developing its Middle East presence.
“Bahrain is a great place to link up with potential clients from across the Gulf and we have taken one of the biggest stands at the show to tap into this market,” said chairman Petros Philippides.
Design consultancy dwp managing director Neil Mark Glassberg, whose company is the biggest participant at the show, said that the event was exactly what he had been looking for.
Other participants included Komador Middle East, which specialises in custom-built products including sports lockers, which it sources from Singapore, wardrobes from Poland and kitchen units for Dubai; Bahrain-based Bab Marrakech, which imports products from overseas and also manufactures in the kingdom; and Perla Lichi Design, an international, full service interior design firm specialising in high-end commercial and residential interiors.

Green Building Forum
The event was further complemented by the Green Building Forum, which saw leading authorities from across the globe discuss the latest developments in environmentally-acceptable developments on the second day of the event. The forum was opened by Housing Minister Shaikh Ebrahim bin Khalifa Al Khalifa.
The event, which attracted more than 200 delegates, was organised by HCE in partnership with North Star Associates.
“This forum reflects a paradigm shift from energy-intensive buildings to a future of low-impact, environmentally-sensitive projects,” said Shaikh Ebrahim. “We wholeheartedly support the Green Building Forum’s objectives to educate and inform the industry, businesses and the public of the opportunities, changes and challenges embracing green building technologies.”
“The forum is an excellent platform for sharing information and collaboration for Bahrain and the region’s environmental design and construction industry. It is at the forefront of green building trends which promise a healthier natural environment for future generations.”
In his keynote speech, the minister stressed the need for the kingdom’s government to address the supply side of electricity and water by developing sustainable energy sources.
The Middle East, he said, had the highest carbon dioxide emissions per capita and awareness of global warming in the Arab region was behind the rest of the world. He pointed out that while Bahrain was committed to embarking on sustainable energy source development, producing more green energy was only half the battle.
“No energy policy can be complete without a full understanding of the opportunities to save energy and how these can be captured in an economically sound way. Research has shown that by capturing the potential available for existing technologies, we can cut global energy demand growth by half or more over the next 15 years,” Shaikh Ebrahim said. “Investing in energy productivity generates energy savings that could equal $600 billion annually by 2020 across all developing regions. Because of their positive returns, energy-efficiency investments are also the cheapest way to meet growing energy needs.”
He said his ministry had been actively pursuing green buildings in the last two years, focusing on global best practices to deliver durable housing units that are both environmentally sensitive and affordable for the target group.
Barwa and Qatari Diar Research Institute (BQDRI) chairman and managing director Dr Yousef Al Horr outlined progress on the evolution of a performance-based green buildings rating system in the Middle East and North Africa, while prominent US renewable energy scientist Mowafak Al Jassim spoke about the way in which buildings were rapidly becoming energy generators. The cost implications of Leed (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification and adopting green building technologies were discussed by Emirates Green Building Council chairman Jeffrey Willis.

2011 shows
The next gulfBID and gulfINTERIORS will be held from May 3 to 5, 2011.
“HCE now looks forward to building on the buzz generated by gulfBID and gulfINTERIORS this year to deliver even better shows in 2011,” said Abdulrahman.
“More than 80 per cent of our exhibitors have already officially signalled their intent to return next year, many planning to take more space than this year. Furthermore, the majority of countries with national pavilions have promised their support for next year.
“We aim to build on this momentum as HCE establishes gulfBID and gulfINTERIORS as the flagship events for the Northern Gulf’s construction and interiors sectors,” he concluded.

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