The second annual trade show dedicated to the Hardware and Tools sector was held over four days from March 19 at the World Trade Centre in Dubai against a background of increasing pressure for more professionalism within the Gulf's extensive maintenance sector.
The show won the official support of key sector lobbyists, the UAE Contractors Association and the UAE Society of Engineers.
Both the organisations campaigned for more regulations and standardisation within the maintenance and construction sectors and those were the sectors that would benefit from the holding of such an exhibition, said Geoff Dickinson, joint managing director, Epoc International, which organised the exhibition.
He said the maintenance sector had previously played second fiddle to the larger construction segment, but increasingly it appeared that maintenance and the value it brought to building management was emerging as a professional necessity in a region where international benchmarks were rapidly gaining ground.
"The moves are being welcomed by international suppliers who want to service this sector, which is growing at around 4 per cent per year in the UAE and is said to be worth around Dh8 to 10 billion."
Dickinson said global interest was evidenced by the fact that the show was more than double last year's size with nearly 200 exhibitors from 23 countries.
Hardware & Tools 2001 featured pavilions from Germany, the USA, the UK, China and France and for the first time had exhibitors from Argentina, China, Cyprus, Korea, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Turkey and Jordan.
It had the official backing of the Hand Tools Association of Taiwan; the Iron Sheet Metal and Metal processing Industries (EBM) of Germany; the Arab Asian Trade Organisation; the China Chamber of Commerce for the Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products as well as the China Light Industrial Corporation; the American Hardware Manufacturers Association and Unibal - the French trade body for the hardware sector.
At the show, the UAE Contractors Association launched its new 'expertise bank' as part of its campaign to win tougher rules to improve quality within the Emirates' maintenance market
The 'expertise bank' will give the association's members free expert advice on contractual obligations, safety, health and the environment, quality and project management.
"It is in the interests of international companies to support and campaign so that their technology and products are protected and gain market share in a sector which for too long has been price rather than quality driven," said Rashed Ahmed Rashed, general manager, UAE Contractors Association.
The UAE Engineers Society is concentrating its lobbying efforts on outlawing fakes from the maintenance sector.
