Middle East Toy Fair concludes on a positive note

A total of 100 exhibitors from 30 countries showed off kindergarten equipment, educational toys, traditional stuffed toys as well as toys for big boys such as model airplanes and helicopters, and one to five scale models of racing cars powered by electricity and petrol.

"We are very pleased with the quality of the turnout, exhibitors and visitors gave the Middle East Toy Fair top grades for its business quality. The attendees cultivated their business contacts here, buyers from leading companies met suppliers for important talks and many new brands were introduced in the Middle East market, which is good news for purchasing departments especially in view of the increasing demand for toys in the region"

said Ms Elisabeth Brehl, Managing Director of Epoc Messe Frankfurt, organisers of the international trade exhibition.

Organiser Epoc Messe Frankfurt has also arranged for its Middle East Toy Fair exhibitors to donate their products to the the Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS), Stand A1.

Siddharth Bhatia, Business Development Manager of Emsons, one of the prominent exhibitors said participating at the Middle East Toy Fair is a way of "Staying in touch with our customers." Emsons is a member of the Toy Fair advisory council and among the products they represent is the Toy Fair Award winner 'Uncle Milton - The Force Trainer,' other brands represented by them are Playmobil, 4M, as well as party items and educational toys, on display were a new range of Disney bakes, Marvel Heroes and toy dinner sets which are much in demand.

On display from A. Winther A/S of Denmark are a whole range of high quality and heavy duty three wheel bicycles for use in kindergartens and nurseries. Bjarne Gereve, Sales and Marketing Manager of Winther said "We hope to expand our business in the Middle East. During the show, we have made good contacts from local companies as well as from nearby countries."

The colourful trade fair was also made exciting by scooter tracks where visitors tried their hand at a new concept scooter from the US, a remote control autodrome, and a Rubik's cube competition on the last day.

From Italy, Model Assistance company displayed scaled down race cars and four wheel drives from RadioKontrol.

A mini race track set up at the exhibition site proved popular with visitors who tried out the scaled down version of race cars at the tracks. Marzio Provini from the company said "During the exhibition, I made good quality contacts with visitors from Kuwait, Iran, and as far a field as North Africa, Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon. After the conclusion of this exhibition I will start holding talks with the buyers and prospective distributors."

From Germany, Stadlbauer, with an annual turnover of Euro180m displayed model slot race cars from Carrera. Jochen Schaefer, Head of Product Management, said: "By exhibiting at Middle East Toy Fair, we would like to take advantage of opportunities in nearby countries of the region. During the show, we have made contacts with buyers from Pakistan, Iran, and Iraq as well as received inquiries from local traders in Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the UAE. The visitors like our products and there is strong demand for them."

Swiss designed "fly-goodbye" - a spring operated gun which uses a cartridge with glue and a suction mechanism to catch flies or other small insects were also present at the show. One catch and release cartridge with a cap and five glue cartridges can be ordered as accessories kits. Silvin Janlic, CEO of fly-goodbye said the product had attracted a lot of interests from visitors.

"This product is being launched in the Middle East with manufacturing sales set to begin by May 2009," said Mr. Janlic.

As in previous editions, Middle East Toy Fair 2009 featured a short seminar, where all visitors and exhibitors have been invited. This year, the main focus was on the African continent. Expert speakers spoke on the potential of Africa as a toy market and gave tips on how to do business with the continent.

Since early history, Dubai has occupied an outstanding position on the trade map of this region. In the last few years, trade between Africa and Dubai has registered a steady growth as more and more African countries adopt free trade policies and realize the importance of Dubai as an international trading hub.

The Middle East Toy Fair is the region's largest trade exhibition for all child and baby related products from baby products, toys and kindergarten supplies, to games party products, school stationery and much more.