With construction equipment industry growth in Europe expected to be modest in 2012, companies are looking to the Middle East as well as China and India, for longer-term growth.
Around 250 exhibitors and 7,000 international buyers are set to take part in the Intermat Middle East exhibition, which is being held in the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre from October 8-10 this year.
His Excellency Mohamed Meer Abdalla Al Raeesi, the UAE ambassador to France, speaking at the Intermat expo in Paris, France, says the exhibition will be a worldwide platform to showcase the region’s funding of large construction, transport, and sustainable development projects.
“This will be an opportunity to present the UAE construction companies, innovations, achievements and projects, and to exchange experiences among the exhibitors,” said Al Raeesi.
“First we need to emphasise the importance and impact of infrastructure on urban, social and economic development. It is one of the most important factors in attracting investment and capital to countries. There is also a close relationship between the quality of infrastructure and standard of living of communities.”
One senior exhibiting company figure looking forward to INTERMAT Middle East is Holger Amann, director of sales and service for Liebherr Middle East.
“We are trying to reach the same sales figures in 2012 as we had in the boom years 2006, 2007 and 2008. We are focusing the Middle East since it seems to have recovered from the crisis of 2009 and 2010. Business has improved substantially since mid-2011 mainly due to large investments in the oil and gas industry, which has always been a very attractive business for our customers. The mobile crane division is doing especially well this year.”
Amann says Liebherr has a firm idea of which emerging markets the company is keen to develop commercial relationships with.
“We are focusing on UAE and Saudi Arabia. The big business in Qatar has not started yet but it is expected to start in 2013.”
Another company looking for expansion in the Middle East is Miller International (MI), which manufactures buckets, quick couplers and other attachments for earthmoving industries.
Jacqueline Miller, the firm’s sales and marketing director says countries of specific interest are UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“Recently, some companies based in Qatar have shown an interest in our product range. We have carried out some market research and identified Qatar as one of the largest markets for rock breakers.
“Some companies from Qatar have also show interest in setting up a joint venture bucket manufacturing facility with Miller. This is mainly for domestic consumption and exports to neighbouring countries,” said Miller.
