The Big 5 Show Continues to be Key Builders' Event in the Gulf

Beginning in 1985, The Big 5 Show has been held in Dubai as the biggest event for buyers and suppliers of construction and related items in the Gulf.

Fueled by the third-largest oil reserve worldwide, Dubai and the UAE sit atop one of the wealthiest economies globally, and has been diversifying its economic base into real estate, tourism, finance and manufacturing. Recently Dubai has been promoting itself as a hub of finance, avant-garde hotels as the Burj Al Arab, and record-breaking skyscrapers as the Burj Khalifa, where 80% of the population are expatriates and whose residents surged 25% from 1996 to 2000 to reach 1.6 million persons in 2008. However, the flashy star of the Middle East also could not evade the global meltdown, having seen many of its towering constructions stall, unemployment rise and hundreds of thousands of expat-residents move out. Such misfortunes peaked in November 2009 when state-owned holding company Dubai World sought to delay debt payments, but luckily and expectedly its big brother the UAE stepped in to bail out the high-profile city.

Some say that the recent opening of the US$1.5 billion touch-the-sky Burj Khalifa amid dazzling fireworks was a PR tool to show the world that Dubai has quelled its financial hiccup to return to business-as-usual. Notwithstanding The Big 5 Show, held November 23-26 at the Dubai World Trade Center, certainly seemed undaunted by any bad memory.

3,000 Exhibitors

Officially opened by HH Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai and Minister of Finance and Industry, The Big 5 Show attracted some 3,000 exhibitors from over 52 countries, including Canada, Italy, German, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, the U.K., Portugal, the U.S., Holland, China and Taiwan, with a number of national pavilions set up. The number of visitors from the surrounding areas definitely showed this event to be a magnet of buyers and dealers in construction and related industries in the Gulf, drawing many from Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, AEU, India, Pakistan and North and East Africa.

Huge Variety

The Big 5 Show 2009, besides not diverting from its tradition of providing comprehensive products, again proved to buyers and professionals of various scales and fields that supplying construction equipment is serious business in the Gulf, where the desert conditions demand products and equipment that can handle the 40-plus Celsius temps. Particularly the builders in Dubai and the UAE have likely broken records for not only erecting skyscrapers in shifting dunes, but also built thematic islets in the sea upon which luxury residences are being constructed. The enormous product range at The Big 5 Show 2009 also remained closely relevant to local applications, exhibiting building materials, hardware, hydro-technology and desalination facilities, air conditioning and refrigeration systems, ceramic items, bathroom hardware, piping, pumps, architectural fittings, maintenance and repair tools, and masonry materials. Besides, the show organizer this year also, to meet civil engineering demands, set up The Big 5 PMV (Plant-Machinery-Vehicles) Exhibition, where a variety of heavy-duty construction, industrial equipment and vehicles were displayed.

Proving it's not all glitzy show, the organizer reports that Saudi Arabia's Alessa Group and U.S.'s Huntair Inc., a supplier of industrial conditioners, decided to form a joint venture worth an investment totaling US$200 million, while UAE's Mulk Holdings signed a contract with Dacs Electro Systems. Saadullah Khan, CEO of Mulk Holdings, told Emirates Business that the joint venture with Dacs Electro Systems will set up Alubond India to manufacture the US brand of aluminum composite panels in India with a capacity of two million square meters, with Mulk Holdings to have the rights to manufacture and distribute the products in nine countries across the Asia-Australasia regions.

Lauding Eco-Innovations

Aiming to make The Big 5 Show eco-sensitive, the show organizer established GAIA Awards starting in 2008 to honor exhibitors displaying environmentally-friendly building products and services. The 2009 edition gave the GAIA Gold Awards to Australian Innovative Systems Pty Ltd. for its Ecoline product, while seven other companies with different green products won the GAIA Silver Awards. Becoming GAIA Award honorees recognizes winners for dedication to building green products, which also can enhance eco-correct image amid global warming concerns.

The four-day event also included a series of seminars to inspire, educate and enlighten industry insiders to carve out new niches with emerging products and business concepts for sustainability. For instance, the conceptual topic “Experience Sustainable Technology” delivered by Mr. Lars Anders, managing director of Priedemann FZCO, involved guidelines to turn the Middle East facade market from preaching to realization, while Kapil Kumar from Prime Technologies LLC gave a lecture on “Green Building Services and Capabilities.”

Quality at Competitive Prices

Taiwanese exhibitors seemed popular with buyers at the show for displaying a variety of cutting tools, auto repair tools, building materials, fasteners, bathroom fittings, RO (reverse osmosis) water-purifying equipment, pipe fittings, casters and spa facilities. The exhibitors owed having attracted considerable attention to being able to offer good quality at competitive prices.

Not missing out on the potential opportunity to promote both CENS buyer guides and Taiwanese suppliers, the Taipei-based CENS, an established export media, was on-hand to circulate its newest issue of CENS Hardware. Apparently known in the trade show circle and backed by Taiwan's reputation for being a hub of flexible manufacturing techniques, the CENS booth saw a steady stream of visitors, who inquired about Taiwan-made products and suppliers.

Global buyers and suppliers should be able to look forward to even more deals in Dubai in 2010 as the world economy seems returning on-track: The Big 5 Show is scheduled for November 21-24, 2010 in the same venue.