UBAI’S shipping industry is currently registering double-digit growth and the trend is set to continue, according to the president of the Dubai Shipping Agents’ Association (DSAA), Saadi Rais.
“Growth is steady and in line with recent Dubai Port Authority figures which put shipping activity up by 23% in the past year,” said Rais. “Growth is being driven by improvements in economies throughout the region and the opening up of more Middle Eastern countries to international markets.”
Rais said further shipping industry growth is expected in Dubai with the planned Dubai Maritime City and the staging of the Seatrade Middle East Maritime exhibition and conference.
“Dubai Maritime City will help further build the emirate’s international shipping profile and will bring additional marine sector players into the market,” said Rais. “At the same time, Dubai’s profile will benefit from the hosting of Seatrade Middle East Maritime, which will help promote the emirate to an international audience. The staging of Seatrade in Dubai is testimony to the emirate’s potential as a global shipping hub.”
Seatrade Middle East Maritime, the region’s leading exhibition and conference for the shipping and associated industries, is to be held at the Dubai World Trade Centre from December 6-8 this year. The event, which is being held under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister, is expected to have an exhibition triple the size of last year spanning around 2,400 sq m with some
200+ exhibitors.
Among exhibitors are members of the four-year-old DSAA, including the Rais Hassan Saadi (RHS) Group. To date the Seatrade exhibition has contracted exhibitors from 12 countries and new pavilion commitments from India, Iran and Pakistan. The event this year will have two parallel conference streams – one dealing with general Shipping, the other with the Gulf and the Indian Ocean as a cruise destination.