Under the patronage of His Excellency the Minister of Commerce and Industry, Tawfiq Al-Rubi'a, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, represented by the "SAUDI EXPORTS" will participate in the international exhibition for building and construction works "THE BIG 5" to be held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates from 23 to 26 November, 2015. This year, the Saudi Pavilion is expected to witness the largest participation by the national industrial companies, especially when number of the participants has increased to more than 100 Saudi companies.
The "Big Five" exhibition, which kicks off at Dubai World Trade Centre, is the largest trade fair in the Middle East and it dates back to more than thirty years ago. It is the gateway to building and construction in the region's markets, attracting more than 2,800 exhibitors from more than 60 countries. Numbers of specialists in this sector who attend the Fair reach more than 80,000 specialists. The exhibition 2014 broke the record number of visitors, due to an increase by 9% compared to the previous year. The exhibition space was fully booked, and the exhibition is an event that has to be attended, especially if we know that more than 130 free symposia on the latest technologies and innovations will be organized.
The general manager of marketing and organizational communication in the "SAUDI EXPORTS" Firas bin Abdulaziz Abal-Khail, stressed the importance of specialized companies making use of the quality export opportunities available in the building and construction sector through participation and join the G5. The exhibition is so important in the delivery of the Saudi products to international markets. It has many attributes that give it the opportunity to compete globally.
Abal-Khail also noted the importance of the sector in the Kingdom's exports. Data provided by the General Authority for Statistics show that the volume of the Kingdom's exports in the building and construction sector amounted to about 14.4 billion riyals. Exports of metal sheets and iron bars products amounted to 7.9 billion riyals, followed by pipe and cables for 2.9 billion riyals.
It is worth mentioning that the Middle East and North Africa account for the largest share of the Kingdom's exports in the building and construction sector with 8.5 billion riyals based on the geographical breakdown of exports. Asia ranked second with 4.3 billion riyals, then North America with 709 million riyals, and Europe with 633 million riyals.
On the other hand, the United Arab Emirates stood first among countries importing construction materials from the Kingdom with 45%, followed by Korea 10%, followed by Kuwait and Qatar 7% for each, and Japan 6%, of the total exports of building and construction sector.
The "SAUDI EXPORTS" is looking forward to providing new opportunities for global expansion for the benefit of national companies. This will be taking place through participation in specialized international exhibitions organized by the Saudi Exports Development Authority in many sectors. For further information on the Authority's services, please visit the website www.saudiexports.sa or through social networking accounts @Saudiexports.