Dubai, UAE: Paperworld Middle East and Gifts & Lifestyle Middle East – dedicated dual trade fairs for paper, stationery, and office supplies, along with gifts, accents, and lifestyle products – are set to showcase a number of sustainable organisations and products from 14-16 December at Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC).
Paperworld Middle East, now in its 10th edition will host more than 150 exhibitors from 39 countries spread across office & business and school & creative products. The co-located Gifts & Lifestyle Middle East will debut this year is set to welcome 60-plus exhibitors from 16 countries across its distinct segments of Giving, Dining and Lifestyle.
Luxor International, a regular Paperworld Middle East exhibitor, exports writing instruments to 108 countries and has dramatically shifted toward sustainable products and packaging to meet increasing consumer demand.
Pooja Jain Gupta, Managing Director at Luxor International, said: “We believe that the demand for environmentally-friendly products and sustainable packaging will increase in the years to come. In line with the need to curb our impact on the environment, we have introduced a range of products that are manufactured using 70- 75% of PCW (Post Consumer Waste) as well as focusing on sustainable packaging.”
Educating the world through toys
Elsewhere, producers of children’s educational and development toys, Woobiboo, will debut at this year’s Paperworld Middle East with not only a message of sustainability but also a goal to support the development of children around the world.
“Our company's spirit is based on ecology and CSR activities,” said Diana Grzymala of Woobiboo. “Due to the pandemic, we noted a significant interest in educational toys from parents, and over the next 15 years, our goal is to create the Woobiboo Online Academy to reach children in the most remote corners of the world.”
In order to achieve this, Grzymala believes a strong distribution network of educational toys is paramount to success.
“This is our first time doing business in the Middle East, and in order to get closer to our vision over the next 10 years, we will focus on identifying the behavioural and learning needs of children to best develop the Academy, which will see numerous collaborations with child development experts.
“However, the first step will be to create a distribution network to ensure our products are available around the world and using Paperworld as our springboard to open up regional opportunities made perfect sense to us.”
Returning features at Paperworld Middle East 2021 include Playworld Village stacked with children’s toys and games; and the Green Room for sustainable stationery and office supplies.
Gifts industry to rebound post-COVID-19
Gifts & Lifestyle Middle East exhibitors will encompass a wide range of products from corporate, designer and promotional gifts through to crystal wear and leather goods.
While the business and art of gifting took a predictable decline during the pandemic, which saw companies cut marketing spend and double down on hygienic and safe practices, the industry is poised to rebound.
Mohamed Alayat, founder of Alpha Art and Event Gift – a launch partner of Gifts & Lifestyle Middle East – said: “The pandemic was not expected, it was hard in the beginning. And while sales were less compared to 2019, we pushed our stocks to Egypt and KSA. The industry will survive this and I am confident everything will be back and better than before.
Alayat explained that, despite these recent challenges, gifting remains an integral part marketing.
“More than 80% in UAE has been vaccinated which is a positive sign that we will back to normal life soon. And the first thing companies need to do is to work on their marketing. Gifting is part of this strategy.”
Hybrid editions present the best of both worlds
Paperworld Middle East and Gifts & Lifestyle Middle East will take place amid stringent health and safety measures in accordance with official government, local authority guidelines, and the Dubai World Trade Centre venue.
Those visitors unable to attend the shows in-person can take advantage of hybrid event platforms where they can experience AI-powered matchmaking, connect with exhibitors in-person or virtually, or discover unmissable products and content.
More information is available at: www.paperworldme.com and www.gifts-lifestyle-middle-east.ae.