By Sandra Chen, Fastener World

One of the world’s leading events in the metal working and steel fabrication industry, Fastener World Middle East 2018, opened on the 15th of January at Expo Centre Sharjah in Sharjah, the third largest and most populous city in the UAE, and continued until the 18th of January. The trade show covered an area of 24-thousand square metres with 6 halls displaying high performance machinery, systems and fabricated metal products. The local government launches this distinguished international trading platform annually. It came with numerous new events this year, including interactive sessions, fabricators forums and Manufacturers Awards, all with the purpose of leading interactions and furthering discussions among local and global fastener manufacturers, traders and suppliers. 800 firms from 43 countries took part in this trade show, including Germany, Italy, Turkey, Taiwan, India and China, the leading countries in the fields of welding and manufacturing of steel and metals. It attracted over 10,000 visitors and the peak time was 10 am to 3pm. The expo had several national pavilions which also included Taiwan with 20 groups of active Taiwanese exhibitors of different industrial fields offering services and products from machinery, hardware, to metal working. Electric industrial company Dahching, fastener manufacturer RAY FU and FASTENER WORLD joined this event. The chairman of Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI), HE Abdullah Sultan Al Owais, stressed the prominence of Expo Centre Sharjah as one of the strategic institutions operating under the umbrella of SCCI that enhances Sharjah's reputation as a global and regional center for industrial, commercial and cultural exhibitions. This is due to the conviction of the importance of the exhibitions and conferences industry and its positive impact in accelerating the economy towards achieving sustainable growth according to the vision of the wise leadership. He also pointed out the special new events, fabricators forum and 2019 Manufacturers Awards, hoping everyone enjoyed the success of Fastener World Middle East 2018 at Expo Centre Sharjah.