Dmg events, an international exhibitions company, has launched two new shows - East African Coatings Congress in Kenya and Central Asian Coatings Show in Kazakhstan.

The growing regional population has fueled the demand for affordable housing and other infrastructure, boding well for the coatings industry which is expected to grow by 45 per cent between now and 2018, according to research conducted by Frost & Sullivan.

The East African Coatings Congress will be held on June 8 and 9 next year at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

The host country is the region’s largest paint manufacturer, from where almost all chemical raw materials are imported.

The conference and exhibition will provide an ideal opportunity for suppliers to present their products and services to business owners and decision makers within the market.

The Central Asian Coatings Show, on the other hand, will be hosted on November 9 and 10 next year at the Almaty Tower in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Accounting for 45 per cent of the regional coatings market, Kazakhstan is Central Asia’s biggest paint consumer.

The country is, therefore, the perfect venue for the show as it continues to generate more demand driven by infrastructure improvements, a developing automotive manufacturing industry, and expansion of the capital Astana.

Ian Faux, vice president – Coatings, dmg events, said: “Although our signature Middle East Coatings Show receives a very high audience from the Gulf and Indian Subcontinent, it has minimal audience from Eastern Europe, Central Asia and Africa.

“There are many domestic suppliers in these regions who do not export but are more likely to attend a show hosted in Asia and Africa than one in the Gulf due to travel time.

“While the East African Coatings Congress targets Central African countries, the Central Asian Coatings Show is aimed at visitors from Eastern Europe and Central Asia.”

In addition, dmg events will re-launch its popular Middle East Coatings Show in Egypt to leverage the country’s paint market valued at $515 million, the second largest in the Middle East (Frost & Sullivan).

A biennial event, the show will be held from October 7 to 8 at the Cairo International Convention and Exhibition Center, complementing the current domestic economic growth of four per cent with an estimated nine per cent driven by the paint industry.

With several infrastructure projects under construction, including the new Suez Canal – a waterway scheme expanding the existing canal between the Mediterranean and Red Seas and the ‘New Cairo’ – a 30,000-hectare upcoming city spread on the southeastern edge of present Cairo, Egypt’s paint industry is in the middle of a boom.

“By extending our brand in Egypt with the re-launch of the Middle East Coatings Show, we aim to ensure our leadership in the growing market by establishing our stronghold in the region,” said Faux.

“It will allow us not only to cater to the demands of the expanding Egyptian economy but also of the region that includes Syria and Libya with their possible economic recovery. We are upbeat that our new shows will offer critical insights into the coatings industry and at the same time extend our portfolio to cover the Middle East, Africa and East and South Asia,” he added. - TradeArabia News Service