By Sami Zaptia.
London, 19 February 2019:
Libya Build, Libya’s biggest construction exhibition, has been announced for October this year.
The organizers said the 11th edition of the event will be held from 14-17 October 2019 in Tripoli.
Maged Mahfoud, Managing Director of the Libya Build organizer, ATEX International Exhibitions, spoke today exclusively to Libya Herald.
Libya Herald asked why did Atex think 2019 was the right time to resume the popular construction exhibition ? What has encouraged it? What are the signals on the ground in Libya that encouraged Atex to resume the exhibition?
“We have been following the situation on the ground for some time, we believe that after the recent (September 2018) economic reforms and the stability of the exchange rate, there is an improvement and it may be a chance to restore trade in the country.
In addition, we recently noticed an increase of the number of new residential and commercial buildings inside and outside Tripoli. This is an indication that the private sector in the country is still doing well.
We believe there is money in the market, despite the inflation we hear on a daily basis of real estate prices, which is very high. Yet there is a movement in selling, buying and building in a manner that may be extraordinary.
All the above market indicators encouraged us to take the decision to resume Libya’s largest economic event as a ‘’supporter’’ to move things forward.
Asked about the kind of anticipated participants:
“We are expecting a good number from the local market. We had 250 loyal Libyan companies from 2010 to 2014.
Today we contacted most of them and we received a very positive reply from all. Of course not all of them are as healthy as they used to be, however, we are expecting a good number of them to be present at the show.
With regards to international participation, our partner in Turkey is optimistic in bringing a good number of Turkish exhibitors, who have been waiting for this announcement for a long time to carry on doing business in Libya. We have also received unbelievable positive replies from our exhibitors from Malta, Italy and Tunis”.
Asked what kind of number of participants were expected:
“I think it is too early to anticipate a number of participants as yet. We will start promoting the event internationally and within a few weeks things will be clearer”, concluded Mahfoud
