Index dubai

The first international Index exhibition took place at the then Dubai World Trade Centre venue in 1992. That first international event occupied all space in the then 2 halls at the centre, and featured 200 exhibitors from around 12 countries. The retail design sister event “ArabShop” - now known as “InRetail” – was introduced in 1993. During the past 16 years, the exhibition has grown to continue occupying all available space at the halls, as well as specially built pavilions.

The initial aims of the exhibition were twofold: . to assist the growing interior design industry in the Persian Gulf in sourcing the products required for its continuing expansion . to provide global supplier companies with an quality trade fair to give them access to new markets in the Middle East.

32,755 visitors attended the Index exhibition in 2007. Around 40,000 visitors is expected in 2008. The majority of visitors at Index are the interior design professionals from all countries of the Persian Gulf and beyond, although the exhibition is also open at selected times to public visitors.

Professional visitors include the specifiers such as architects, contractors and interior designers, trade and professional buyers from all sectors of industry: hotel, residential, retail, office and government. Index also represents an opportunity for overseas companies to make contact with potential agents and distributors around the region, since most local and regional retailers and distributors visit the event to source new suppliers.

At Index Dubai 2008, more than 2,000 exhibitors from around 60 countries will exhibit. They include the major global suppliers, as well as most prominent furniture and interiors manufacturers and retailers in the Persian Gulf region. The essence of Index is that it covers not only all sectors of the interior design markets, but also all styles and preferences that define the interiors in the region.

The student awards program, sponsored by HISG (Habtoor ISG Interiors), six interior design departments of local UAE universities will be represented at Index, who will show work by university graduates. This year, four universities took part with several student teams each, proposing a design for a standard hotel room . The winning entry will be built by HISG and will be on display at Index, where the Awards will be presented on Thursday 3 December by VIP personalities from the prestigious Red Dot Awards.

Regional construction may witness some slow down over the coming years but there are still record breaking contracts across the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) countries for the fit-out of commercial and residential buildings, hotels, retail outlets and mixed-use developments reaching completion next year.

The peak this year in current civil construction projects across the GCC comes at the end of a steep three-year climb and as the world economic slowdown begins to bite. As global and regional economies enter a new phase, however, potential budgets for the interior fit out of buildings reaching completion in 2009 and 2010 continue to show major growth potential, according to statistics compiled by project database company Proleads.

There is, of course, some uncertainty in the market as to how far the slowdown in the property development will impact with projects possibly being scaled down or put on hold. The cost of fit-outs may also fall somewhat as contractors seek to remain competitive. In the medium term, however, spending on fitting out completed buildings retains major growth potential.