One of the ignition events before the official opening date of EXPO 2020 will be THE BIG 5, a construction fair that will take place from 12 to 15 September in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Eight Latvian construction companies will be among the fair’s participants and showcase their offer, including materials ranging from construction parts to interior design elements.
THE BIG 5 is the largest trend-setting construction fair in the Middle East since 1982 that each year gathers around 3,000 participants and 60,000 industry professionals. So far, Latvia has taken part in the fairs organised in 2016 and 2017. This year we will use the opportunity to present eight Latvian companies: ‘Controlit Factory’, ‘AM Energy’, ‘WWL HOUSES’, ‘Tetralia’, ‘Groglass’, ‘TENAX PANEL’, ‘Wood ART.LV’ and ‘Silk Plaster Group’.
‘Wood ART.LV’, having concluded several projects in Qatar, is a producer of furniture and other interior design elements that has already gained some experience in the region. As the space to present one’s creations in the fair is limited, the company plans to take a custom-made booth to Dubai, which will allow displaying various materials and combinations – wood, leather, metal.
“We believe to have understood the expectations of the UAE market. The demands are quite different from what we know in Latvia, Scandinavia, and Europe. The desired interior designs are visually impressive, rich in colour and include a lot of golden parts. We hope that by our participation in the fair, we will get closer to expanding our presence here and conquering India’s market, too. Big global fairs and especially EXPO are a tremendous opportunity for each company. And we will use it. We have an agent in the Middle East but in Dubai we will be able to reach out to our customers directly. We know that the way Arabs negotiate is very different from what we are used to, so this will be a challenge for us,” says Member of the Board of ‘Wood Art.LV’ Vilnis Brakvskis.
‘Controlit Factory’ is a company proud of its innovation – patented underlays for proactive roof leak detection.
“We entered the Middle East market right after the outbreak of the pandemic, so it is fair to say that we are still testing the waters. Nevertheless, as we already have two partners here and see that our technology can attract interest, we believe THE BIG 5 to be a platform to meet potential customers and partners. It will also provide some insight into the particularities of the market that will help us make the most of EXPO 2020. We must not forget that outside Europe there is not much information about Latvia, so we chose to position ourselves as a European company. However, Latvian businesses are known for their quality products and services. We hope that it will not be left unnoticed by the visitors of THE BIG 5,” says Member of the Board of ‘Controlit Factory’ Ēriks Stankevičs.
For more information on THE BIG 5 visit: https://www.thebig5.ae/.
The global fair EXPO 2020 is set to take place between 1 October 2021 and 31 March 2022. For more information on EXPO 2020 visit https://www.expo2020.lv/