The Canadian contingent is returning to the Big 5 show for its fifth consecutive year with its largest ever presence.

 “We are expecting a strong participation of 25 companies coming from across the Canadian provinces of Alberta, New Brunswick, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. While some have participated in previous years, several are new to the market,” says Canada's trade commissioner in Dubai, Sanam Shahani.
The contingent will exhibit a range of products, technologies and services within the construction and environmental sectors that include: wastewater treatment systems, water purification, reverse osmosis, desalination and recycle treatment systems; waste management technology; indoor air quality including air purification systems, de-humidification, energy recycling, refrigeration and air-conditioning; and advanced building systems.
“One of the companies will be offering complete turnkey solution for manufacturing MDF (medium density fibreboard), OSB (oriented strand board) panels and door skins in the UAE,” says Shahani.
Products on display will include HVAC-R (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration) peripheral devices; thermostats and humidity controls; waterproofing cements, paints, decorative coatings and electrometric wall and roof finishes; insulation and insulated concrete forms (ICF) and structural insulated panels (SIP); artistic glass used to decorate windows, doors, ceilings, flooring and lamps; architectural polymer coatings, high-quality interior, exterior and floor coatings which include stucco and EIFS (external insulated finishing system) applications; stone finishes, domes, space frames, canopies, free-form roofs, and frame foundations for use in all types of public and commercial buildings.
Commenting on last year's participation, she says: “The event was extremely successful for us and we intend to build on our success by continuing to participate each year and help introduce even more companies to this market. Canadian companies have been very receptive to exploring business opportunities in the UAE and the Big 5 provides a perfect venue to enable them achieve this and introduce their products in multiple markets but without the added cost. In fact, registrations this year have substantially exceeded our expectations and a number of companies had to be accommodated in our catalogue exhibit.”
“The UAE is Canada's second largest trading partner in North Africa/Middle East. Our two-way trade figures until June 2005 indicate a sharp increase in our business activities totalling CAD$340.219 million ($286 million), as compared with CAD$509.513 million in 2004 for the whole year. Canada also holds a significant market share in the services sector and this would account for a further 30 per cent of our exports,” she adds.