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Gulf Industry Fair 2008 (GIF), the first comprehensive industrial exhibition for the Middle East opened yesterday with more than 90 exhibitors from 19 countries.
The event is being staged at the Bahrain International Exhibition Centre (BIEC) under the patronage of Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa until Thursday.
The exhibition has attracted international participation from a number of countries including Germany, the US, France, the UK and India.
Regionally, Saudi Arabia represents the biggest presence with two major pavilions from leading industrial companies, Alruqee Group and Pan Gulf.
GIF is being organised by Hilal Conferences and Exhibitions (HCE) which is a part of the Al Hilal Group of Companies in co-operation with Hannover Messe, part of Deutche Messe.
The exhibition incorporates seven sub-events - Gulf Metal, Gulf Aluminum, Gulf Energy, Gulf Metrology, Gulf Automation, Gulf Manufacturing and Gulf Logistics.
Managing director HCE Jubran Abdulrahman said: "There is no dispute that the key industrial market in the region is Saudi Arabia and specifically the Eastern Province of the kingdom. Bahrain's position just 35 km away from the major industrial areas of Saudi, make it the ideal venue for our industry show."
Hannover Messe International managing director Andreas Luttman also believes that Bahrain is the perfect place for such an event. He added: "Given a very dynamic economic development in the Middle East many companies from around the world are eager to participate at professional trade shows in order to display the state-of-art technology. Visitors to GIF 2008 will have the opportunity to see some of this technology in action and Bahrain's strategic position makes visiting the show easy."
