Small to medium French companies are targeting the Gulf for new business, with the assistance of the French Trade Commission.
A total of 38 made it to the Middle East Electricity trade show in February, as they looked to boost their profile outside the flagging European market.
“It is a good time for French companies to be here,” said Pascal Roger, senior trade attache for the UAE’s French Trade Commission. “In the Gulf, infrastructure and utilities projects are still running.
It is a priority for the UAE to keep advancing with infrastructure, electricity and waste management.”
French companies, such as Areva and Suez, already have a high profile in the region, but Roger described the small businesses as the backbone of the economy.
“The French government is pushing hard to increase exports from these companies,” he said. “We have small companies with very specific know-how and we should show this to the world.”
Companies on show included established suppliers such as Socomec. The company has been involved with projects such as the Dubai Airport and Dubai Metro. Area sales engineer Vinod Nair sees being close to customers as essential.
“Being close to our customers and knowing what is happening will help us get as much market share as possible,” he said.
Eric Fund, sales manager of FTZ, a software company, was in the region for the first time.
“We develop different design software for schematic work,” he said. “For us, it is too soon to have agents, so we deal direct, including training people in the use of our software.”
