French plastics experts to gather in French pavilion at ArabPlast in Dubai

Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French economy, will be organising its first French Pavilion at the ArabPlast 2019 with 13 companies representing different sectors of the industry.

ARABPLAST has established itself as the leading trade fair for the plastics industry in the Middle East. Its privileged geographical position makes it a particularly popular business location and an ideal meeting place for French exhibitors wishing to develop or intensify their growth in the local and regional markets.

Given the hydrocarbon reserves available in the United Arab Emirates, plastics processing is one of the country's priority areas for industrial diversification. Demand comes mainly from the food packaging and electrical tube and cable manufacturing sectors. Last year, the packaging sector grew by 44 percent. All of the above are excellent reasons for French companies to offer the UAE market alternative solutions in the field of innovative plastics, a sector in which France excels.

French plastics processing is a structurally expanding growth sector. In 2017, the plastics and composites industry returned to its historic highs, achieving a turnover of €30.2 billion, which is almost identical to the 2007 turnover (€31 billion) with 3,500 companies and 128,000 employees. It covers 110 economic sectors, principally food/agri-food (19 percent), automotive (17 percent), construction (12 percent), electricity/electronics (10 percent) and medical (10 percent).

The French plastics industry benefits from its collective innovative strength which is further supported by its Industrial Technical IPC Centre (Innovation - Plastics - Composites). Innovation concerns not only products and materials, but also equipment and tooling. Some 7,600 employees work in Research & Development, R&D, in the plastics sector with €636 billion being invested in R&D in 2016.

Since 2010, exports of plastic products have been growing at a rate of 4.2 percent per year, a rate that may even reach 5.2 percent this year. France is ranked 2nd in Europe and 7th in the world.

To be held from 5th to 8th January, 2019, at the Dubai World Trade Centre, ArabPlast 2019, the largest trade expo for plastics, petrochemicals and rubber industry in the MENA region, is set to bring together key players and experts in the sector from around the world in Dubai in early January.

The previous edition of ArabPlast had witnessed 906 exhibitors from 41 countries and 27,268 visitors from 119 countries.

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