A leading exhibition for the rapidly developing automotive aftermarket in the Middle East and Africa has concluded on a positive note, with more than 50 per cent buyers from the international arena.

Automechanika Middle East in 2009, which opened on May 31, ended yesterday (June 2) the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

On the first two days of the show, the visitor figures had already climbed to over 17’000, reaching 96 per cent of last year’s overall numbers.

Exhibitors of Automechanika Middle East 2009 have expressed satisfaction at the massive business potential as well as the visitor turnout with international buyers turning out in big numbers from the GCC, the Middle East, Iran, Africa, CIS (commonwealth of independent states), India, and many more countries.

Considering the tough economic climate Automechanika Middle East registered a remarkable increase in the number of exhibitors at 966 exhibitors from 46 countries, occupying 31,000 sq mt of the exhibition centre.

Peter H. Rehberg, MD of the Asanetwork of the German Pavilion summed up the sentiment of the majority of trade fair visitors: “The majority of our exhibitors are very positive and satisfied. We can’t feel the effects of the economic crisis here in Dubai.”

He added that the German pavilion member-exhibitors displayed mainly parts, accessories and repair shop equipment.

“I have been participating in Automechanika Middle East exhibitions since this trade fair started in Dubai,” said Rehberg. “This time around we booked more than 900 sq mt of exhibition space. Some exhibitors at the German pavilion are looking for distributors in the GCC and Middle East while others already have representation in the market and are here to visit and network with customers.”

“The success of Automechanika Middle East signified early signs of the much awaited economic recovery in the Middle East region,” said Michael Dehn, senior show manager of Automechanika Middle East, organised by Epoc Messe Frankfurt.

“The economic activity between buyers and sellers during a trade fair is a sure indicator of the health of an economy and the Middle East region will be one of the places that would recover quickly judging by the success of this exhibition,” he added.

Martino Picotti, marketing manager of Independent Aftermarket of ACDelco said: “Our stand has received more visitors this year than last year.”

He added that ACDelco has received some very potent inquiries and established good contacts with the high number of visitors which came into to their stand at the Automechanika Middle East.

ACDelco has more than 300,000 individual part numbers, 37 product lines covering all makes and all models of automobiles with continuously expanding product coverage.

Under the umbrella of UbiFrance and the French Trade Commission are 19 French companies dealing in automotive aftermarket, car parts and accessories, automotive body and windshield repair kits, and car safety equipment.

Pascal Galli, chef de projet automobile, Service Transports and Infrastructures said the big crowd of visitors that gathered at the UbiFrance pavilion is an indication of a good potential.

“Some of these companies have been here before, while others are new in this market,” she remarked.

Arwani Trading, a Dubai based company dealing in garage equipment, construction equipment, power tools and hand tools were happy with the number of genuine business inquiries that they received.

Hani Arwani said: “We have had very good and targeted traffic on our stand with enquiries and orders being signed during the show. This year in particular we did not know what to expect and were pleasantly surprised to see an even better show than last year.”

“We also launched the Sparky brand of power tools made in Germany at the Automechanika Middle East.” Arwani added.

Automech