More than 45 leading firms from Saudi Arabia’s printing sector met with organisers of Drupa 2012, the leading printing trade fair in Germany, in order to identify and maximise business opportunities presented at the event.

The conference was organised by Riyadh Exhibitions Company (REC), a leading trade exhibition organizer in the Middle East, yesterday (December 13) at the Four Seasons hotel in Riyadh.

Drupa 2012 will take place from May 3 to 16, 2012 at the Düsseldorf Fairgrounds in Düsseldorf, Germany.

Held once every four years, Drupa is the biggest international trade fair for the printing industry.

More than 1,800 international companies from over 50 countries have already confirmed participation at this year’s event, which will occupy 19 exhibition halls. Drupa 2012 will focus on emerging trends in the global printing sector, including digitization and automation, innovative printing, marketing solutions, dynamic publishing, print automation, digital imaging and green printing.

“Drupa has been the networking platform of choice of global industry players including vendors, heads of publishing houses, manufacturers, and senior marketing and communications executives,” said Mohammed Al Hussaini, Deputy General Manager, Riyadh Exhibitions Company.

“REC has therefore been encouraging Saudi companies to capitalize on Drupa’s extensive international participation to enhance their networking potential and competitiveness in the global markets. Moreover, Drupa is strategically important for printing companies in KSA and the region as Asian markets hold over 32 per cent of Germany’s printing exports,” he added.

German exports to Saudi Arabia reached over 4.2 billion euros from January to August 2011, representing over 20 per cent of total German exports to Mena countries. German imports from Saudi Arabia are also on the rise reaching over 473 million euros in the same period.

Building on the huge participation in its previous edition in 2008, which was attended by over 390,000 trade visitors from 140 countries and 1,971 exhibitors from 52 countries, Drupa 2012 is again expected to attract a large number of visitors and trade exhibitors during its two-week run. – TradeArabia News Service