The fifth edition of the Materials Handling Middle East (MHME) conference in Dubai will feature a breadth of eco-friendly topics in its agenda, and the role and use of technology in logistics.

MHME 2009 will feature over 150 exhibitors from 20 countries during its three-day run from May 31 to June 2 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

The exhibitors will be from the logistics, supply chain, freight & cargo, automation, and information and communication technology fields.

On the first day of the conference, Gary Benatar, chairman of the Industrial Logistics System (ILS), will provide an overview of the conference agenda, followed by a presentation on ‘The development of Economic Zones World’ by Ibrahim Al Janahi, chief commercial officer of the UAE Region, Jebel Ali Free Zone.

Jeremy Brown of ILS and Geoff Wheatley, MD of SSI Schaefer Systems International, will speak on ‘Going beyond green buildings – Greener & more sustainable operations’ and ‘Green warehousing’.

Day two of the conference will focus on security, safety standards, and risk management in the logistics industry.

Mario Seneviratne from Green Technologies will review the issues in achieving ‘Green efficiency’ on June 2, the last day of MHME 2009.

Tariq Hasan, the senior technical architect of Westcon/Motorola will follow next giving an insight on the ‘Use of mobility systems in material handling’. Soon after, a speech on ‘Technology in supply chain management’ will be delivered by John Tansey, general manager of UPS UAE.

Raheel Khan, the regional director of Business Systems Group,  will then give a ‘360 degree view of supply chain’ to all the attendees, followed by a case study interpretation by Rajeev Nair, logistics manager at the Sun and Sand Sports.

The third annual Supply Chain & Transport Awards (Scata) will be held in association with Materials Handling Middle East on June 1.

Mahmut Gazi Bilikozen, senior show manager of MHME 2009 said: “The awards will bring together over 200 of the region's top executives from the supply chain and logistics industry to celebrate the leading achievements of the year in air cargo, sea freight and logistics.”

“Freight and logistics have been witnessing unprecedented growth even during a difficult economic climate,” he added.

“For instance, the Dubai Airport Free Zone declared 48 per cent growth in net profit for the first quarter of this year and 49 per cent growth in revenue compared to the same period last year. This development can only have a positive effect in the freight and logistics industry in the Gulf and Middle East region.” – TradeArabia News Service