Over 27,000 visitors visit the 17th Gulf Education and Training Exhibition

According to International Conferences and Exhibitions (IC&E), the organizers of GETEX, the growth of the show exceeded their earlier expectations. While IC&E had factored for 40 per cent growth in exhibitors, the number of higher education providers actually grew by 60 per cent.

'The 17th GETEX has exceeded our conservative expectations for this show. While the number of exhibitors grew, the show succeeded in bringing together some of the most reputed names amongst international education providers. Meanwhile, the presence of Prof. Dr. Peter Frankenberg, Minister for Science, Research and the Arts from the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg seeking Research & Development (R&D) based academic alliances with regional centres of higher learning, provides a strong indicator of the growing stature of UAE as the education hub of the region.' said Anselm Godinho, Managing Director, IC&E.

'The DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service) is amazed at the fast pace at which development is taking place in the UAE region. Now is the time to accelerate efforts in order to strengthen ties and build alliances with the academic institutions in this area. Realising this, the DAAD has been regularly reaching out to the academic and student community by participating in GETEX, the region's premium education forum,' said Dr. Christian Hulshorster of DAAD.

'As with the 16th GETEX, our presence at this year's show has resulted in considerable and enthusiastic response from students interested in German education. In its current phase of expansion, the DAAD plans to establish an information office in the UAE later this year. The aim of the new office will be to act as a resource centre for information about education in Germany. We hope that this will lead to greater cooperation and exchange in the future,' added Dr. Hulshorster.

'GETEX has been very valuable this year for Dubai Knowledge Village and Dubai Knowledge Universities. We are impressed with not only the number of students that visited the exhibition, but their quality and diversity,' said Dr Abdulla Al Karam, CEO Dubai Knowledge Village. 'This year our GETEX campaign has been very successful, all our academic institutions and a wide selection of our training partners participated with us at the KV pavilion. It was also a great opportunity for KV to interact with other international academic institutions and education professionals who will join Dubai Knowledge Universities, our newly announced mega campus for international universities, in the future.'

For SAE International Technology Institute, the largest audio, film and multimedia college worldwide, participation at GETEX proved to be an important branding exercise, even as college administration prepared for its entry into the Middle East.

Said Romy Hawatt, SAE Institute's Strategic Business Development Manager in the Middle East, 'The College is already present in 20 countries worldwide, with 46 schools dotted around in Australasia, Europe, USA and Asia. Our plans to bring our unique courses to the Middle East have received a boost through our presence at the 17th GETEX. Several colleges and universities from across the Middle East present at the show have expressed interest in academic partnerships. We would, of course, like to make the UAE our Middle East headquarters, subject to allocation of space by the Dubai Knowledge Village.'

SAE Institute, which is a global partner of the Middlesex University offering the universities degrees with its courses, plans 3 centres in the UAE, in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. It has also plans for schools in Qatar; Bahrain; Jeddah, Riyadh and Dammam in Saudi Arabia; Oman, Lebanon; Casablanca and Egypt.

The most telling comment came, however, from the representative of the Canadian University of Windsor. Said Mel Broitman, 'Traditionally, GETEX has been a student recruitment show. Over the years, the University of Windsor has withdrawn from most global exhibitions. This is one show that is an exception. The student interest has continued to grow; the quality and diversity of the student community visiting the show has improved, making GETEX one of the leading global exhibitions for student recruitment. We will be back at the show for many years to come; we will also seriously explore options to be a part of GETEX' global drive with presence in other editions of the show outside Dubai.'

Meanwhile, a substantial new segment hosting 50 manufacturers and providers of educational aids welcomed trade visitors for the first time to the Middle East's premium forum for the education industry.

According to Stan Jones, Sales Director of the LJ Group, a leading global education systems provider, 'The Middle East had previously lacked a credible platform for the technology segment of the education industry. GETEX 2005 has changed that. When we came to the show, all we wanted to do was to demonstrate support for our existing customers. We were, however, delighted by the amount of new business generated at the show. The show has proven to be an invaluable networking forum.'

IC&E, the organisers of GETEX, are set to announce new locations for the show in the near future.