Qatari plastic product exporters to participate in Morocco fair

Twelve Qatari plastic product exporters will join Qatar Development Bank (QDB)’s export development agency Tasdeer at Morocco’s largest plastic products fair, Plast Expo 2013.The event will be held at the International Fair Grounds in Casablanca from June 19 to 22. It will see more than 2,800 delegates and 150 exhibitors from across the globe showcasing their products and services to scores of potential importers and trade visitors. Plast Expo is a bi-annual event that has positioned itself as the Euro-Mediterranean gateway to Africa. Seven groups were present at Plast Expo 2011, including the Austrian pavilion, Expo Austria, AVEP from Spain, Milan Chamber of Commerce through Promos and group pavilions from China, South Korea and Taiwan. For the first time, the French Trade Commission UBIFRANCE organised an official pavilion consisting of major French companies active in plastic machinery and equipment. This year, Qatar is set to participate in the event at an exclusive pavilion covering 144sqm of space with the presence of companies such as Al Bayader Pack Qatar, Haya Plastics, Asima Plastics, Doha Plastics, Gulf Plastic Factory, Hepworth PME Qatar, Qatar German Medical Devices, Qatar Polymer Industrial Company, Orient Plastic Containers Factory, Uniplast and Universal Wrapping Manufacturing.For the 2013 edition, Maroc Export will put a hosted buyers’ programme into effect. As a result, high-profile trade visitors from Algeria, Egypt, Gabon, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal and Tunisia will attend the event to discuss business.Mansour bin Ibrahim al-Mahmoud, chief executive officer of QDB, said: “At QDB, we are mandated with developing Qatar’s private sector by continuously spearheading programmes and activities that aim to establish a multi-faceted and world-class export industry in the country. Morocco’s Plast Expo is a superb platform to promote Qatari plastic exporters to new and promising markets in North Africa.”In the run-up to the event, Tasdeer is organising a series of planning and preparation meetings with the participants. The first of these was recently held at QDB in the presence of Hassan Khalifa al-Mansoori, executive director of Tasdeer, who welcomed the attendees and said: “This is a great opportunity for the Qatari plastic products market as it helps open newer avenues for growth. Tasdeer has recently championed an in-depth research of the Moroccan market with valuable findings, which I urge each of the participants to delve into in addition to making use of the importers’ contact lists that we have compiled and includes importers’ credit worthiness. Both of these initiatives are in line with our strategic role to develop the local private sector and Tasdeer’s customised suite of financial services, such as pre-shipment insurance, post-shipment insurance and bill discounting.”Morocco offers a large market for plastic products and good growth is expected in this sector. The customs duty charged by Morocco for the products manufactured by Qatari companies is zero per cent owing to the GAFTA agreement.