This year’s edition of the ‘Dubai International Wood & Wood Machinery Show’ ended on a high note with over $100 million in reported sales during its exciting three-day run, said the event organisers.

A regional landmark event for wood trade and investment, Dubai Wood Show 2013' ran from April 9 to April 11 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

According to Strategic Marketing and Exhibitions, the event’s organizers, the show posted an attendance of 7,000. It lived up to its reputation of providing a strategic platform for communication and development on the latest wood industry products and suppliers, while at the same time also giving participants and exhibitors the opportunity to explore new markets and help maintain relations with existing clients.

Dubbed as the largest ‘Dubai WoodShow’ ever, the event’s opening was graced by visiting foreign dignitaries that included the DWS honoured guest,  Ngole Philip Ngwese, Minister of Forestry and Wildlife for Cameroon; Henry Djombo, Minister of Sustainable Development, Forest Economy and Environment for the Republic of Congo; Mariteuw Chimère Ndiaw, Executive Officer, African Model Forest Network and Franz-Josef Bütfering, President, EUMABOIS.

The show was 35 per cent bigger in terms of exhibitor participation and exhibition floor space, said a statement from Strategic Marketing and Exhibition, said a top official.

“The show was a complete success. This year’s event has so far, generated over $100 million in sales, let alone the new partnerships and opportunities created among the exhibitors and potential clients that visited during the show’s three-day run, remarked Dawood Al Shezawi, the chairman of Dubai WoodShow Organizing Committee.

The event was aimed towards complementing the industry’s continuing efforts towards encouraging the use of more wood in further keeping with green and sustainable building and construction practices, he stated.

As with its previous editions, 'Dubai WoodShow 2013' featured 12 international pavilions hosted by participating countries like the US, Canada, Germany, France, China, Malaysia, Cameroon and Congo.

"We were highly impressed by the display of technology, the massive presence of major companies and the numerous interactions and stakeholders of the industry at this year’s event,” said Ngole Philip Ngwese.

"Participating at ‘Dubai WoodShow’ has allowed us the opportunity to showcase Cameroon's large wood market, which includes 300 different species of trees out of which 60 are being used. I am glad that we have created opportunities for wood transformation and have also increased our contact list of potential investors to Cameroon,” he added.

A key highlight was a special seminar focusing on the various possibilities to be gained from building with wood.

The seminar covered four timely topics, which included the use of wood as a building material in the GCC; wood as a design component of architectural projects; the current state of wood use in the GCC and timber legality.

During the day-long seminar, special presentations were made by representatives from the Emirates Authority for Standardization & Metrology; the Malaysian Timber Certification Council; Quebec Wood Export Bureau; Dubai Municipality; Dubai Central Laboratory and the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC).-TradeArabia News Service