Debut PVPC Expo Mideast eyes 6,000 trade visitors

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times)  The inaugural PVPC Expo ME (Middle East Pumps, Valves, Pipes & Compressors Industrial Exhibition 2014) got underway at Expo Centre Sharjah on Monday and its organiser expects more than 6,000 trade and professional visitors from the GCC, Iran, Turkey, China, India, Iraq and other countries from the Mena region.

CEW Group plans more fairs in UAE

Abdul Basit

Sharjah: China's CEW Group plans to open its office in Sharjah and also wants to bring more exhibitions to the UAE next year, according to a top official of the group.

"We have opened our first exhibition - PVPC Expo Middle East - at Sharjah Expo Centre and hope it will be very successful," Echo Li, project manager of the exhibition, told Khaleej Times after the inauguration on Monday. Li mentioned that CEW Group will finalise its office in the next couple of days in Sharjah and the objective is to organise more exhibitions in the UAE. She did not provide further details about future exhibitions, but said: "We are looking at partners for new shows across the UAE."

Since CEW was found in 2003, it was aimed to assist the Chinese exhibitors to explore the international market, especially in the oil and gas equipment industry. In 2003, CEW organised the first group of Chinese exhibitors to participate in an oversea exhibition.

Five years later, in November 2008, CEW successfully organised its own exhibition - China (Dongying) International Petroleum Equipment and Technology Exhibition (CIPEE). Hereafter, CEW has become the only Chinese professional oil and gas exhibition agency, which not only organises international and domestic exhibition, but also has its own exhibition.

- abdulbasit@khaleejtimes.com

The three-day exhibition was opened by Abdalla Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It will run until Wednesday. The new trade event is targeting the industry with the aim to facilitate further growth in the regional market.

With strong demand from oil & gas, power, urban infrastructure, construction and desalination projects, the UAE has become a growth driver for the pumps, valves and pipes & compressor industry. In a recent study, consulting firm Frost & Sullivan found the Middle East market for industrial service of pumps, motors, compressors, automation, instrumentation and electric drives earned revenues of $549.3 million in 2013 and it's expected to reach $818.5 million in 2018, at a compound annual growth rate of 8.3 per cent.

The pumps, pipes and compressors industry is on a strong footing in the region, driven by robust investments in oil & natural gas pipeline, and exploration projects, and strong industrial and manufacturing activity. The opening ceremony was attended by Saif Mohammed Al Midfa, CEO of Expo Centre Sharjah; Bruce Cui, CEO of CEW Group, industry representatives, government officials and other dignitaries.

"Expo Centre Sharjah is proud to play host to the only regional trade fair that specialises in pumps, valves, pipes & compressors. The PVPC Expo 2014 is organised by CEW Group, a leading international organiser of oil & gas, pump, valve and pipe exhibitions," said Midfa. "The show also underscores our move to open our facilities to external organisers, which, while boosting occupancy at Expo Centre, will also galvanise the respective industrial segment the show is targeting." The industry is banking of the UAE's ambitions of becoming a serious player in the semiconductor industry, its robust investments in oil & natural gas pipeline projects, its focus on energy savings, and technological advances and demand for higher energy efficiency equipment. "The launch edition of PVPC Expo 2014 is featuring more than 200 firms from the UAE, Germany, Italy, Turkey, China, India, USA, UK, Denmark, Australia, Pakistan, Poland & Iran, among others, at 4,000sqm of exhibition space. Through PVPC Expo 2014 we aim to provide latest products, services and solutions in pumps, valves, pipes and compressors to the regional industry," said Bruce Cui. Industry observers note that the demand for oil-less and oil-free air compressors, clean & dry vacuum pumps, vacuum pumps with variable speed drives, rotary-vane vacuum pumps and reciprocating piston type compressors, and interactive, intelligent, automated self-diagnosing pumps are on the rise in the region.

Showcasing some of the latest innovations in these areas, the Expo is featuring leading names like Emerson, Auma, Kaeser, Atlas Copco, Pentair, Idex, SIHI, Proserv, Eniprom, Davey Pumps, Hepworth, and Technopro among others.