UAE's top position as the regional centre for freight, warehousing and distribution industries was further underlined at the biennial Materials Handling & Logistics Trade Fair held recently at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Evidence of this was on hand for all to see with more than 125 exhibitors taking part in the fair from around the world together with 5,000 trade visitors, said an official spokesman.

International statistics have already confirmed Dubai ports are amongst the top seven in the world, with future plans set to elevate capacity to compete head on with the mega-ports of Singapore and Shanghai.

No wonder therefore that so many suppliers are keen to get a slice of the business being generated by projects such as Dubai Logistics City (DLC), Dubai World Central and Dubai Industrial City, the spokesman added.

This year's event presented a blend of top flight multi-nationals such as Caterpillar along with formidable companies from the UAE including SPAN, Airlink and Al Thika Packaging.

'The event has seen a consistent growth in the level of visitors and exhibitors. This year's event is a record and added to the response for delegates attending the conference. Many visitors were especially keen to learn about new developments in Information Technology as well as getting first hand information about new developments in the UAE,' said exhibition manager of Materials Handling & Logistics Amanda Westerman.

CEO of Dubai Industrial City (DIC) Rashed Al Ansari presented plans for the new complex and revealed key aspects of the development.

Another major attraction of the show was an area given over to live demonstrations, allowing visitors to see first hand some of the latest equipment to be put to the test. Trade Arabia News Service