CAIRO: What do air technologies, industrial tools, storage equipment and spare parts have in common? The latest technologies from each were recently displayed at a Cairo exhibition with industry insiders eager to expand their offerings on the market. Airtech, "The 8th International Exhibition for Compressed Air Technology & Accessories and Mactech, "The 9th International Exhibition for Machine Tools, Industrial Tools, Welding & Cutting Equipment took place at the Cairo Fairgrounds from Oct. 22-25. Meanwhile, Handling Expo, "The 9th International Exhibition for Material Handling and Storage Equipment and Transpo Tech, "The 8th International Exhibition for Commercial Vehicles and Spare Parts were also held in conjunction, organized by the International Fairs Group (IFG). IFG calls its venue, "one of the most famous, prestigious and technically-advanced venues in the Middle East, but the broken sidewalk and drab buildings of the Cairo International Fairgrounds seem an inauspiciously tired host for introducing cutting edge technologies. Yet the uninspiring exterior belied the hum of activity inside. The Mactech exhibition felt like entering a large home improvement warehouse, dominated by the sounds and smells of power tools, while the more exciting Airtech Expo felt like entering an advanced school science fair where the students had the brains and money to create whatever they chose. Hydraulic cutting machines used the force of water to shape metal on one aisle, while a laser cutting tool punched stencils of the Batman symbol on another. Businessmen and a few women moved excitedly through the different booths, seemingly excited as children at all the new "toys. International exhibitors - from Turkey, the UK, Germany, Japan and others - appeared eager to expand into the Egyptian market, while Egyptian exhibitors enthusiastically attracted attention to Egyptian industry. Ahmet Kulac, a Turkish engineer with the sheet metal company Kuper, represented the large Turkish contingent present at Airtech. "This is our second year at Airtech. We're excited to take advantage of Egypt's expanding market, he said. Asked to identify other regional trade fairs his company attends, he named Jordan, Iran, Syria, Dubai and the most important, Saudi Arabia. "Saudi Arabia is most important because the government provides support to the industrial sector, he added. Egyptian exhibitor Alex Power Technology considers Airtech the most important trade fair of the year, largely because the company does not find it necessary to exhibit outside the country, explained sales manager Ahmed Mostafa. "We stay local, he said. Sales manager Ahmed Koura, of Semaf for Trade and Engineering Services, (SFT), is anything but local. His company won the right to exhibit for Japanese manufacturer Kamioka after Koura traveled to Japan to ask if the company would be interested to expand its market to Egypt. Apparently, they did not need much convincing, and the Koura's company has now represented them in Egypt for two months. Egypt has traditionally relied on foreign markets to produce much of the industrial equipment used in factories. The increasing ability of Egyptian companies to both create their own technologies and market them domestically indicates a shift in Egyptian manufacturing.
