Dubai gets a peek at Italian trade shows

dubai — Italian trade shows from the processing and packaging industry, IPACK-IMA and MEATTECH, were recently presented in Dubai as part of The Innovation Alliance that will be held from May 29 to June 1, 2018, at Fiera Milano, Italy.

Companies taking part will exhibit technological innovations for the agri-food sector, the beverage segment, refrigeration technologies, as well as non-food sectors such as chemicals and cosmetics and industrial and durable goods packaging segment. The show will also bring together companies operating in labelling, tracking, coding and marking and will showcase applications ranging from food security to mass production.

Riccardo Cavanna, President, Ipack-Ima tells Khaleej Times: “Every time a customer needs to develop a product they need packaging, logistics, and many different technologies that can make their product stand out in the market. The idea behind the Innovation Alliance was to put together the competence of five trade shows that are representing the best in plastics, printing, packaging, processing and logistics, not only in Italy but also around the world. Time is a critical asset so we want to offer visitors the opportunity to have a 360-degree overview of what they need.”

The food processing and the packaging industries represent two key sectors in the GCC econ- omy that are witnessing a rapid expansion. While food-manufacturing units have been growing at an average of 5.2 per cent between 2010 and 2014 according to Alpen Capital, the packaging industry in the region is forecasted to grow at a CAGR of 5.2 per cent up to 2019, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE leading the regional path.

“The Middle East is an important market for us as Italy is the one of the region’s leading export partners when it comes to the packaging industry. We export around €1.2 million of packaging machinery in the region,” says Cavanna.