The region’s appetite for fresh fruits and vegetables and love of plants and flowers has remained strong despite the global downturn, said organisers of upcoming World of Perishables (WOP Dubai) and International Plant Expo Middle East trade shows.

WOP Dubai, a dedicated trade fair for fruits and vegetables in the Middle East, is to be held under the patronage of Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashed Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finance and chairman of Dubai Municipality, from March 8 to 10.

This year the show has grown by 30 per cent in area with 85 exhibitors from 18 countries and will have seven country pavilions: China, Malaysia, Mexico, Tanzania, Egypt, Jordan and Kenya.

The International Plant Expo Middle East (IPM Dubai), one of the largest plants and flowers trade fair in the region, will take place side by side along with WOP Dubai at the Dubai Airport Expo, said the organisers.

The event, to be held under the patronage of Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of Dubai Airports, will feature exhibitors from the fields of flowers, plants, technology, floristry, sales promotion, plant maintenance and logistics. The show is now in its fifth year.

Both shows are organised by Planetfair Dubai and Messe Essen in co-operation with Dubai Municipality and Dubai Central Fruit and Vegetable Market, the Middle East’s biggest market for import and export.

Abdulla Mohammed Rafia, assistant director general of Dubai Municipality for General Support Services Sector said the growing influence of both shows supports Dubai’s important role as a hub for these two business sectors:

'The success of the WOP show is a result of the growth in the fruits and vegetables market. As per the latest market research reports, Dubai has seen an increase in the import of both these commodities by 40 per cent since 2007 to reach more than $1 billion in value.'

'This has been supported by the large overall expatriate population in the region who like to eat food and products from their home countries,' Rafia said.

'We face major challenges in trading that we cannot overcome with traditional means. This show can assist in facing these difficulties through coordinated and complete work that would set us up on the first steps towards development,' he added.
 
Mona El Dada, project manager for Planetfair said the shows were capitalising on the resilience of the perishables and horticultural business, exemplified by the sustained demand for fruits, vegetables, plants and flowers.

“Dubai’s geographic position as an international hub for these two important businesses, and its world-leading infrastructure, has meant both these sectors have remained fresh and full of vitality throughout the recent economic downturn,” she remarked.

“For instance, our own market reports show that Dubai’s strategic location as a staging post midway between the east and west has served the UAE’s perishables industries well, with the facilities at Dubai Airport seeing imports of fruit and vegetables jumping by 40 per cent in 2008 and sustaining this level through 2009,” Mona said.

“To illustrate this in purely practical terms, in 2009 the Dubai Central Fruit and Vegetable Market in Al Aweer received a total of 38,838 fruit and vegetable delivery trucks, which is an increase of 12 per cent from the previous year’s figure,” she added.

Topping the country list for both imports and re-exports (per produce weight) was India, at 314,316 tons and 157,257 tons respectively.

The emirate has also been an important re-export hub for the GCC countries; with statistics from the same period showing total re-exports to the Gulf states as being 226,273 tons.

'Saudi Arabia topped the list of GCC countries with the highest tonnage of exports to Dubai; the figure translating to 307 trucks being received into Al Aweer market from the Kingdom,' Mona added.

Leading UAE companies including Fresh Fruits Company, Unifrutti, Barakat Group. Shokri Hassan, Jaleel, Mehtab, Nassar Rifai, Saadi and others are among this year’s local participants.-TradeArabia News Service