The 43rd edition of Big 5 organized by dmg events supported by Enterprise Greece (Hellenic Investment and Foreign Trade Company) saw excellent participation from Greece, with 60 companies exhibiting at the show held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from 5 to December 8.
This year's participation even exceeded that of the 2019 event, where Greece was ranked 2nd at the European level and 5th globally. Greek companies had the opportunity to showcase their products and showcase the industry's dynamics to a large number of visitors and businessmen.
Big 5 showcases the largest variety of products and services in the construction sector, such as building materials, marble, ceramics, air conditioning systems, solar systems, metallurgy and glass products, bathrooms, wood products, electrical equipment, airport equipment, cables, electrical machinery, water & environmental technology, etc. to business visitors, not only from the UAE and Middle East region, but also from the neighboring countries of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, India and Sub-Saharan and North Africa. It is worth noting that the sector's exports to the Middle East in 2021, despite the economic effects of the pandemic, amounted to 18% of the total volume of the country's Greek exports,
During the exhibition, for the first time, a specially designed space for the promotion of Hellenic Marble was operated. Enterprise Greece in collaboration with the Association of Marble Businesses of Macedonia - Thrace (SEMMTH) edited and presented the first brand name for Greek marble "GREEK MARBLE" aiming at a coordinated promotion of this excellent product abroad.
Greece also had, for the 3rd consecutive year, the largest national presence in the Start-up City area of Big 5, with the participation of 10 Greek Startups, which presented their innovative technologies in the field of building materials and construction industry and won the impressions.
The country was also present at the new launch event "EVERYTHING ARCHITECTURE". Participating companies had the opportunity to enter into commercial meetings with high-level architects and design offices, which had been invited by the organizers. In parallel, with Big 5 and in the same exhibition space, the 6 specialized exhibitions were held: The Big 5 Heavy, Middle East Concrete, HVAC R Expo, FM Expo, Urban Design & Landscape Expo and Middle East Stone.
In his remarks, the CEO of Enterprise Greece, Mr. Marinos Giannopoulos, said: "In recent years, Greece has made impressive progress in strengthening its business activities abroad, boosting exports of construction and industrial materials and products in a long list foreign markets. Our participation in the most important exhibition of the sector in the Middle East, BIG 5, and the presence of so many Greek companies, fills us with optimism for the future and prospects of the sector. Our companies had the opportunity to demonstrate the innovative products them and to meet with a large number of visitors and businessmen. Especially for marble I should point out that Greece promotes 76% of domestic production in 120 countries (Eurostat and Stonenews.eu, 2022), so the care and promotion of a new identity for the sector is extremely important as it is expected to contribute to the further consolidation of this excellent Greek product in foreign markets".
