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It may not have pleased those that complain there’s already too many shows but Abu Dhabi hosted a new event last month, Intermat Middle East.

However, those that love machines must have been in their element, especially if they managed to make the journey to CONEXPO in Las Vegas a week earlier.

Abu Dhabi’s been pitching itself as greener city lately and the emphasis at the show was on the environment.

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According to an interview conducted by BuildGreen with sustainability expert Richard Smith, Carbon Critical buildings technical director for Atkins in the Middle East and India, failing to comply with current and incoming regulations could cost up to 30% or more of GDP per year, leading to economic failure.”

With increasing fines and financial penalties being placed onto construction companies and municipalities such as Abu Dhabi initiating a series of green initiatives over the last few years, the event has understandably attracted support from a lot of companies looking to push recycling and waste management products and services.

Hyundai’s local dealer Al Wasit demonstrated the Korean manufacturer’s range of hydraulic excavators, wheel loaders, skid steer loaders and forklifts, machines rated for Tier III.

“Hyundai’s efforts to offer environmentally friendly and durable products at economical prices, is most relevant when the construction industry is facing a tough time,” said SB Yun, Middle East Regional Manager, Hyundai Heavy Industries.

“We believe that this show will provide a good opportunity to reach this message to our customers”. Intermat was a real mixture of the old and the new. It also attracted a lot of new companies for the region.

Intermat has traditionally been a Paris-based event, and it brought over a contingent of French companies looking break into the UAE Among them, CEO Patrick Mansuy of Arcure, explained that the specialist in video pedestrian detection technology and the developer of the recently unveiled Blaxtair safety system see opportunities for new technology in the GCC.

“GCC countries and, generally speaking, the Middle East region are carrying out huge building works, involving thousands of heavy machines and hundreds of thousands of workers working around,” he said. “These projects are often amazing and are much admired worldwide.

“We are convinced that Blaxtair, by helping to save lives, could bring benefits to workers, to the building companies and finally to the global ecosystem.’’