Exhibitors at last year’s show.
sbie returns with new segment
This year’s Saudi Building and Interiors Exhibition features the Construction Machinery Showcase, covering 20,000 sq m of outdoor space at the Jeddah Centre for Forum and Events.
01 April 2012
THE 21st edition of Saudi Building and Interiors Exhibition (sbie), which has been serving the building, construction and interiors sectors for more than two decades, will enhance its focus on heavy construction and earth-moving equipment this year by introducing a new segment – the Construction Machinery Showcase.
The event will be staged at the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia’s commercial and leisure capital, this month (April 22 to 25, 5 to 10 pm).
While the main show will run full house indoor over 8,000 sq m of the exhibition hall, the Construction Machinery Showcase will be spread over the entire 20,000 sq m of the outdoor area adjacent to the exhibition centre.
Established as Saudi Arabia’s key event, the annual exhibition is highly supported with participation from international companies, leading Saudi manufacturers, agents and distributors, and is expected to attract a wide spectrum of high-profile professional visitors from across the kingdom and neighbouring Gulf countries, says a spokesman for Al Harithy Company for Exhibitions (ACE), the organiser of the event.
This year’s sbie has received unprecedented response from Saudi companies including Al Fawaz for Ceramic Company, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (Sabic), Al Jazeera Factory for Paint, Schneider Electric, Abdullah Bin Ibrahim Establishment, and Hesham Al Sewedy Trading; as well as international groups with national pavilions supported by their respective ministries and government bodies from Turkey, China, Egypt, Indonesia, India, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and the UAE.
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“sbie is the perfect marketing platform from which to access the vibrant and lucrative Saudi market and take advantage of the ongoing boom in construction,” says the spokesman.
Symposia will also be held concurrently to address topical issues during sbie.
Last year’s sbie saw more than 200 exhibitors at the Jeddah Centre for Forums and Events reporting a huge number of business deals running into millions of Saudi riyals. The exhibitors included 100 local companies who were agents or suppliers of building materials and equipment. Most of the exhibitors said they were more than satisfied with the participation, as the visitors were mainly businessmen, professionals or traders.
“The exhibition provided us with the right platform to introduce our products and also study the local requirements,” said Jean Howiller, director of development of France-based Mathis, a leading European glued laminated timber-frame producer. “There have been many inquiries for our building designs and systems, and equipment for sports and cultural centres, and infrastructure for malls and other commercial ventures.”
Another leading exhibitor pleased with the response to its participation at the event was the Export Promotion Centre of Turkey, which had organised the large Turkish participation. “We can’t quantify the exact value of the business transacted at the expo, but the deals signed or those in the pipeline suggest that there have been record deals,” said Oguz Kuyumcu of Export Promotion Centre of Turkey, after the event.
Similar sentiments were expressed by Justin Liu, export manager of Jiangyin BondTape Technology Corporation of China, while speaking on behalf of the large Chinese group.
A Latif Malik, general manager of Pakistan’s Interwood Mobel, said his company received many inquiries for its wide range of wood and wood-based products for home and office furnishing. “Local dealers evinced interest in our doors, kitchens and kitchen appliances, wardrobes, and furniture for offices, homes, kids, educational institutions and hotels,” he said.
Malaysia, with a number of its companies, was among the major overseas exhibitors.
Jeddah’s Insulation Factory, a producer of thermal insulations and packing solutions for the building industry, was among the many local exhibitors. Its products include thermal insulations and a wide range of sheets and products for roof and wall insulation. The company’s senior executive Adam Al Tabei, said: “We received export orders for Sudan, Lebanon and other countries at this exhibition”.
More than 25,000 visitors at the exhibition, who included engineers, architects, consultants and designers, said they found some of the exhibits new and timely, and believed they would be useful for the kingdom’s booming real estate sector.
