day "Big 5 Saudi Arabia" construction exhibition ended successfully Wednesday, with participants putting a strong emphasis on eco-friendly materials. Out of the 260 or so exhibitors, 165 are from overseas and there was a friendly atmosphere in the exhibition hall. European businesses were very well represented with exhibitors from UK, Spain, Germany, Italy, Greece and France. Other countries such as Japan, China, Korean and Turkey were also represented. Weatherite from the UK, for one, was marketing environmentally friendly air-conditioning systems. "What we are doing is looking toward renewable power, and sustainable energy sources," said Gerald Weston. "We have joined up with a UAE based company as our joint venture partner and they have offices in Riyadh and Jeddah. When we were at the Big 5 in Dubai in November, we won a Bronze Award for an environmental solution. We are really here to get people aware of our name and to understand the concept." The benefits of solar power were also on display by Michael Xenos, the owner of Gauzer from Greece: "We produce solar energy for the application of hot water and heating. We can use it for heating up our homes, big hotels and hospitals free of charge - from the sun. We have good business in Jordan, and this is the first time that we are in Saudi Arabia and the interest here is very high." He noted that "the most important thing is that we use renewable energy that is free of charge - you are very lucky here, you have a lot of free sun energy - and with this system there is no pollution," adding that "we are excited about the prospects here and we have come to Saudi Arabia because we feel the people here are very friendly, and it is a good market for us. And why not give our 30 years of experience to this country?" There were also plenty of exhibits to interest anyone in the process of building their own home. The marble from Spain and Greece was particularly impressive. Konstantinos Ionnidis from Lazaridis Marmor in northern Greece spoke about their marble: "We have been in the marble business for almost 50 years so we are well known, especially for our white marble. We have already done one big project in Makkah, which was almost fifty thousand square meters of white marble. We deal direct from Greece, so our presentation here will make us better known. White marble is very popular now, so many designers are starting to use it." Spiroll Precast Services Ltd from the UK have worked with big organizations such as the Saudi Binladin Group and Saudi Oger in the past. "We have had people using our equipment in Saudi for nearly 30 years," said Stephen Carr, the managing director. "We come and go here quite a lot, and we work with steel technology who fabricate steel components and silos. They do fabrication for us as part of the service that we offer our customers so that the package is efficient and cost effective." Mariateresa Malakos , an Italian, has been coming and going to the Middle East for 30 years so she feels 'at home' here. "I am with DMG who are the organizers and I bring the Italian exhibitors. I live half in Dubai, and half in Italy. I once came to Riyadh about 10 years ago, but this is my first time in Jeddah. As a female businesswoman, I have found it much easier here." Vanessa Ficarelli, also Italian, had also brought Italian exhibitors. Andy White, event director of the Daily Mail Group (DMG), though said the show has the potential to be much bigger: "We had a total of around 260 exhibitors and 165 of those were from overseas. We sold out the venue and had to build a marquee on the side as well, and on top of that we had a waiting list of well over 100 companies who wanted to come. So we need more space. We are talking to the JCC now and they are hoping to expand this venue."
