ROADEX 2006 gets good response

'Thanks to our presence at ROADEX which focuses on a very niche market, we have had the opportunity to make good contacts with visitors from the road industry. We will expand our distributor network in the region to Iraq, Iran, Qatar and Pakistan in the next few months. The caliber of the visitor audience at the show is excellent and we will definitely come back for the next edition' said Leonorah Glatthaar, Managing Director, Evercrete International.

Mohammed Shehadeh, General Manager of concrete manufacturer Unibeton Ready Mix said 'ROADEX provided a valuable opportunity for us to network with large contractors such as Samsung, who were present at the show. We expect the relationships we have established to translate to concrete business relationships in the future'.

Unibeton also announced that it was increasing its concrete production capacity from 1.5 million cubic metres to 2 million cubic metres to serve the increasing demands from the construction industry in the UAE. A new plant with a capacity of 30,000 cubic metres will also be set up and the employee count will go up to 1500 in June 2006 from 1300 presently.

Ivan Corza a representative of the Spanish Asphalt Association said 'As the Spanish road industry is firmly established, there is a great amount of learning that we can impart to GCC countries in the field of road construction, environmental effects of roads as well as road safety. We have used ROADEX to build visibility for ourselves among visitors from GCC countries and municipality officials'.

Professor Carlo Giavarini, Chairman of SITEB, the Italian Asphalt Association was pleased at the conduct of the event and said that the response the show had received would encourage significant Italian participation in the next edition as well.

ROADEX had 180 exhibitors from 35 countries taking part occupying an exhibit space of 14,000 square metres.

ROADEX also featured a conference on Road Safety that was organized by the IRF. Over 35 international speakers spoke at the conference sessions and addressed the topic of road safety and intelligent traffic systems.

ROADEX 2006 was organised by ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Company), Department of Municipalities & Agriculture, Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Public Works and was held at the Abu Dhabi International Exhibition Centre.

ROADEX 2006 was held under the patronage of HH General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces was inaugurated on 12th March by HH Sheikh Hazza Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Traffic, Parking and Equipment were newly introduced exhibit segments at ROADEX 2006, in addition to the focus on Roads, Tunnels and Bridges thereby making the event the most comprehensive road industry show in the region. The scope of the exhibition encompassed all elements of road transportation including design, construction, operation, maintenance and engineering management.