Leading sports brands, suppliers and associations from 25 countries will take part in an upcoming sports and leisure industry event in Dubai.

Sportex Middle East 2010 (Sportex) will be held from October 31 to November 2 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

Sportex is presented by Dubai Sports City, endorsed by the Dubai Sports Council and is a member of the World Federation of Sports Goods Industry (WFSGI).

Hebei Mighty Synthetic Rubber and Plastic from China, an artificial grass manufacturer, has already supplied a number of projects in the Middle East and hopes its Sportex 2010 participation will lead to more firm orders, it said.

“There’s a huge potential in the Middle East market. We put a lot of attention on this market and it takes up a fair part of our export business. We work in co-operation with some companies here and have supplied turf to them. We believe Sportex can help us reach more potential clients,” said Leon Zhao, foreign trade manager at the company.

Spain’s Grupo Plaginsa, a producer of rubber and EVA sheets, flooring, footwear and acoustic isolation, returns to Sportex this year after making good contacts and receiving orders from last year’s show.

“We’re just starting to work with the Middle East market,” said Manu Martinez from the export department at Grupo Plaginsa. “We work with distributors here and supply them with our products direct.”

Unica Boya is the first company in Turkey to produce 100 per cent acrylic latex-based tennis court surfaces. The company supplies the acryflex-T brand, which is approved and certified by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

“As we are a sport flooring producer, we think that Sportex will meet our expectations. We believe that we will find the right customers during the exhibition,” said Demet Zanburkan, international sales executive for Unica Boya.

“The Middle East has big potential, financial power and many projects under construction. That’s why it is very important for us. Eighty per cent of our customers are from the Middle East market now,” he added.

“Sportex is fast becoming an international forum for the sports and leisure industry and we are delighted to see so many international brands choosing to exhibit at the show in 2010. This proves that the Middle East market is still seen as a very lucrative market, with suppliers keen to get on board with many of the new projects taking shape,” said Abdul Rehman Falaknaz, chairman of International Expo-Consults (IEC), the organiser of Sportex. – TradeArabia News Service