Last month’s third edition of Propak East Africa exhibition and conference that took place at the KICC in Nairobi received raving reviews from both visitors and exhibitors. With 3095 trade delegates visiting the event over the three days, Propak cemented itself as the leading industry exhibition for the wider East African region.
The event, focusing on packaging, printing and plastics was an honest reflection of the regions current popularity with participants from 43 different countries throughout Africa and the rest of the world.
During the event, 123 exhibitors met with regional industry buyers to network and discuss future and existing business. Hayssen Flexible Packaging from the UK sold machinery onsite to one of their regional clients. The client already had one of their older models but in exhibiting, they were able to showcase their newer model and talk in person to their client. The feedback received from all exhibitors highlights the growth that is happening within the industry and the excitement that everyone has for the future of this market.
One of the core focuses for this edition from the organisers was to deliver real quality to all those involved. This was clear from the breath of exhibited products and the machinery that was on display but from a visitor perspective, the delegates were a true representation of the industry leaders with 60% of visiting delegates being senior management, half of which being owners or CEO’s of their companies. This quality allowed exhibitors to speak with the real decision makers and allowed them to get more tangible results.
One exhibitor, Boxmore Packaging from South Africa had this to say about the show: “Propak East Africa worked very well for us. We were able to generate new business and potential leads from a wide variety of different countries, not just within the East Africa region, but the whole world.”
“Propak East Africa,” said yet another exhibitor, Swedev Ab from Sweden, “was so much better for us than we anticipated. It was our first time at the exhibition so we took a small stand in the second, smaller hall. However this didn’t affect us at all, and after generating new leads in the region, we have decided to re-book for the 2018 show.”
Alongside the exhibition, the Propak conference ran for the three days of the event under the theme of ‘Proving the efficiency of packaging, printing and processing in East Africa’. The conference attracted the most senior delegates who came to listen to the engaging talks that were running throughout the event. With brands such as Coca-Cola, Robert Bosch, Kenya Bureau of Standards, Tetra Pak and many more, the discussions that were made enabled people to walk away from the event with real insights and tangible benefits.
Alexander Angus, the East African Regional Director for Montgomery, the organisers of Propak East Africa said: “We are thrilled that we have run another hugely successful event here in Kenya. Going into the show, we had already grown it massively but the feedback that we have had from all participants is the real reward.
