8 november, 2016 (Rotterdam) – Exhibitors highly satisfied with successful 1st edition of IRANIMEX2016, powered by Europort. From 18 – 21 October 2016 the first edition of IRANIMEX, powered by Europort took place on Kish Island in Iran.
The exhibition hosted 300 exhibitors from 22 different countries who showcased their products and services to over 9,000 visitors from all walks of the maritime life and government. Exhibitors praised the opportunities of the Iranian maritime & offshore market and the many promising contacts made during the event.
For many international exhibitors IRANIMEX2016 was the first chance to get in contact with the Iranian maritime and offshore industry and response was often above expectations. Mr. Andreas Albert, Managing Owner of Albert GmbH / Germany said: ”We exhibited at IRANIMEX for the first time and it was a great forum for Albert GmbH to present its global service in the marine-, offshore- and trade market. The feedback greatly exceeded our expectations. We believe that IRANIMEX is one of the best gates to understand the Iranian market’s updated demands and to meet many key players in one place. Due to this positive experience we are looking forward to the next edition of IRANIMEX!”
VIP Officials
During the official inaugural ceremony, that was held on 18 October in the Kish International Convention Center, a large delegation of officials gave attendance together with 400 national and international invitees. Among the officials were Mr. Ali Shamkhani – Secretary of the Supreme National Security Council of Iran, Mr. Amir Habibollah Sayyari – Commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran Navy, Mr. Ali Asghar Mounesan – CEO of the Kish Free Zone Organisation, Mr. Mohammad Saeed Seif – Secretary of Marine Initiative Technology Council (MITC) of Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology, Mr. Mohammad Saeed Nejad – Deputy Minister and the Managing Director of Ports and Maritime Organization and Mr. Amir Rastegari – Head of the Iran Marine Industries Organization.
Visitors with clear investment focus
More than 9,000 visitors from 23 countries attended IRANIMEX2016. The majority of them came from Iran’s most important maritime and governmental regions like Tehran, Bandar Abbas and Bushehr. A large concentration from overseas visitors originated from Middle East and Asian areas. Visitors mainly represented technical departments (33%) and management boards (22%) of maritime & offshore related companies. 63% of all visitors is directly involved in the decision making process for purchase and investments. Most of the visitors indicated that their main goals were to establish relations with new suppliers and to gather information about specific products and services. Exhibitors often experienced a clear focus from these visitors who demonstrated specific technology requirements. “IRANIMEX has been very successful for us! There was a high visitor attendance to our stand, giving us the opportunity to speak to so many people. This was a valuable chance to get to know more about this growing market.” stated Hidde Nooteboom, Sales Manager Middle East for Damen Shipyards.
Exponential international growth
IRANIMEX, the leading maritime & offshore exhibition of Iran, had been organised 17 prior editions, mainly as a national event. In 2016, IRANIMEX signed an exclusive cooperation agreement with Europort, one of the world’s largest maritime exhibitions. Based on combining the blueprint of IRANIMEX and the international expertise the brand Europort provides, the two organisations joined forces and from 2016 onwards, the exhibition has been rebranded as “IRANIMEX, powered by Europort”. The combination of this rebranding and the lifting of sanctions have resulted in an exponential growth of international exhibitors from 10 to 114. As a result, the exhibition has grown with almost 30% covering an area of 21,000 m². Mr. Peyman Masoudzadeh, Secretary of the Iranian Association of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering underlined that IRANIMEX, powered by Europort marks Iran’s largest maritime event and will turn into the most significant maritime exhibition in the region by taking advantage of post-JCPOA opportunities.
Mr. Bas Eerden, Manager Product & Marketing Department at Alphatron Marine added: “When Europort asked us to participate in IRANIMEX, we did not have to think twice. Iran is definitely a future growth market with high potential for our sector. The exhibition has provided us many interesting leads and we met potential partners with whom we could make future business deals. We will definitely be back in the next IRANIMEX in 2017.”
2 day conference
Alongside the exhibition the two day marine industries conference “MICIRAN” took place. The conference was held with the cooperation of Iranian marine universities and organizations. During this conference researchers, scientists and practitioners from all over the world exchanged information and new ideas and discussed the future direction and priorities in the areas of naval architecture, marine engineering and related topics.
Next edition in December 2017
The next edition of IRANIMEX, powered by Europort will take place from 12 – 14 December 2017 on Kish Island in Iran. Kish Island is an international Free Zone for which no visa is required and can be reached in just a 30 minute flight from Dubai.