Heidelberg bags orders worth more than 800 million Euros at Drupa 2004

The immensely successful exhibition that attracted more than 370,000 visitors from around the world had a major attendance from the Middle East.

More than 500 printing industry decision makers and professionals from the region attended in the show and brought back considerable experience and the latest printing technologies to the region.

"Despite the economic slump that has affected markets around the world over the past few years, the Middle East market continued to grow. This was reflected in the number of concrete deals struck by Heidelberg Middle East FZCO, the regional arm of the printing giant at the 14-day show" said Zeid Al Jehni, Heidelberg's General Manager Middle East.

The largest exhibitor at the Drupa 2004 - the biggest and most prestigious exhibition of its kind - Heidelberg occupied two halls that covered around 7,800 square meters of floor-space. The state-of-the-art and highly innovative exhibits of Heidelberg this year were more than 30 per cent during the last show.

"Heidelberg's Middle East delegation that comprised 40 highly skilled marketing and technical professionals from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and Iraq. They provided support for the hundreds of printing specialists who converged in Dusseldorf from various parts of the region" Al Jehni added.

He assured that the Middle East printing and publishing sector is undergoing a major innovation by ushering in the latest technology and best practices. The visitors from the region got to experience the best in the globally acclaimed solutions from Heidelberg.

Dr. Joachim Englisch, Heidelberg's Managing Director in the Gulf expressed immense satisfaction at the volume of business achieved by the regional office. "The Heidelberg stand was the main attraction at Drupa and visitors from all over the world were keen on getting some hands-on feel of the 50 new innovations we launched at the show."

"The latest Heidelberg solutions purchased by attendees from the Middle East will go a long way in enhancing the quality of printing and developing the regional market as a whole," Dr. Englisch said.

The purchases and concrete orders include high-end Heidelberg solutions for superior quality pre-press, press and post-press solutions, added Dr. Englisch.