ArabPlast 2011, the region's premier trade show for rubber, plastics and plastic processing, will showcase machinery worth more than Dh15 billion ($4.08 billion), it was revealed.

The show will be held from January 8 to 11, at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre.

“Such strong display at ArabPlast demonstrates how seriously global machinery manufacturers are looking at developing their business here, offering latest machineries in the areas of injection moulding, blow molding, wrapping and packaging, pre and post plastic processing techniques as well as machines used in producing raw materials, such as masterbatches, additives and polymers,” said Satish Khanna, general manager, Al Fajer Information and Services, co-organiser of ArabPlast.

The show covers a wide spectrum of plastic machinery, plastic/rubber processing technology, pre and post-processing systems, plastic packaging technology, injection moulding, blow moulding, wrapping technology, extrusions, chemicals and additives, semi finished goods, engineering plastics and plastic products.

Machinery is a big part of this year’s exhibition that will be 25 per cent bigger than the 2009 edition, occupying nine halls of the Dubai World Trade Center.

Tekno/Tube Arabia 2011, the 10th International Trade Fair for industrial machinery, metal working, machine tools, tubes and pipes industry, and the co-located show with ArabPlast 2011, is also organised by Al Fajer Information and Services with Messe Dusseldorf as the overseas associate partner.

“The tube and pipe manufactures in the GCC look at the region as one market and the big advantage of this market is the absence of customs barriers. While the present demand is met through imports, leading manufacturers of pipes in the Gulf region are looking at reducing the dependence on imports by increasing the production of tubes and pipes every year,” Khanna added.

Tekno/Tube Arabia has become a major international trade fair for industrial machinery, metal working and machine tools. The show has attracted 175 exhibitors from 24 countries. Specialised pavilions from Bavaria, Taiwan, China and Germany are participating in the show.

The ArabPlast Summit, to be run concurrently with the exhibition, will discuss key challenges facing the growth of the raw plastics and petrochemicals in the GCC region.

All India Plastics Manufacturers Association, the Indian partners for Arabplast, is also organising a conference on the emerging opportunities in India in the plastics sector.-TradeArabia News Service