The Austrian pavilion continues to beat the records it has set at each successive Big 5 show. This year the number of participants at the pavilion has increased yet again to a total of 36.

“Austria has been participating at the Big 5 exhibition for than more than 15 years. The number of companies who have been arriving has been increasing every year, from 29 in 2004, to 34 in 2005 and to 36 this year,” says Dr Wolfgang Penzias, commercial counsellor of the Austrian embassy in Abu Dhabi.
While no figures are available on the kind of orders last year’s participants at the show went home with, there’s no doubt that most, if not all, were more than satisfied with their participation at the most-eagerly anticipated event of the year. “The proof [of their satisfaction] is that many of them are participating this year,” says Dr Penzias.
Of the 36 Austrian firms at this year’s show, 14 are coming for the first time and these include Elektro Karl Baumgartner, a manufacturer of control systems for sand and gravel processing plant; Dauser Industrieanlagen und Wassertechnik, a specialist in water and waste water treatment plants; dsb Maschinienenbau, a supplier of top-quality stone crushing and screening machines; E+E Elektronik, which offers professional measurement technology for climatic conditions and Grass, a supplier of world-class furniture fittings and drawer slide systems.
Austria’s trade relations with the UAE have been steadily growing over the last three years. Austrian exports into the UAE grew by 3.3 per cent in 2003 and by 13.1 per cent in 2004. Last year saw a huge leap with exports registering a 27.5 per cent rise and this was followed by a whopping increase of 61 per cent in the first six month of this year, compared to the same period in 2005, shows once again the popularity of Austrian goods throughout the world. During the first six months of this year, goods worth 183.6 million euro ($231.2 million) were exported from Austria.
Among the top products being exported to the UAE were machinery products (worth 86 million euro) trucks and cars (24 million euro), compressors (7 million euro) and cranes (8 million euro). Glass and glassware (14 million euro) and furniture (8 million euro) were also on the rise as well as pharmaceuticals (4.5 million euro), drinks (6 million euro) and food products (9 million euro).
Austrian companies are involved in some of the major projects in the UAE such as the Dubai Sports City, Burj Dubai, and Dubai Metro, the cement grinding plant in Abu Dhabi, a cold rolling mill and galvanising complex in Musaffah and the recycling facility in Sharjah, besides many others.
The Austrian embassy in Abu Dhabi has been playing a key role in both promoting the Big 5 show and in getting some of the top firms in Austria to come down and show their products and latest innovative technologies to the key decision-makers of the construction industry both in the UAE, the Gulf and the region.
“The Austrian federal economic chamber promotes the exhibition to all related companies and arranges the participation of the interested companies in the national pavilion,” says Dr Penzias.