The commercial print business in the Middle East and North African region (MENA) is expected to reach $32 billion in 2019.
According to the Saudi Gazette, research by Smithers Pira has revealed that inkjet printing will stay “the region’s fastest growing print technology,” achieving a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7 percent this year, with electrophotography and gravure following.
The figures were revealed ahead of Gulf Print & Pack 2019, a regional industry event for the commercial print and packaging industry.
Andy Thomas-Emans, Strategic Director of the event’s organisers, Tarsus Group, said: “The MENA region presents a vast opportunity for companies in the commercial printing business, which the report estimates will grow by 6.2 percent by next year. This is way ahead of the growth rate for the world print market, which, at 1 percent is struggling to adjust to declines in demand for traditional print products as media products become increasingly digitised.”
Thomas-Emans further stated that the MENA region possesses “a huge untapped market for digital technologies, that could spur the growth of the industry in the future.”
The most valuable end-use application for print in MENA is said to be package printing, with a worth of $20 billion in 2019.
Further events across the region with a print-based focus include the annual Paperworld Middle East trade show, which returns in 2019 with an expanded offering and a new theme, ‘More Than Paper.’
“A whole new world of potential business opportunities awaits thousands of regional trade buyers, distributors, retailers, corporations, and educational institutes at the upcoming edition of the Paperworld Middle East 2019 exhibition in Dubai,” declared organisers Messe Frankfurt.
