With the Middle East and Africa’s audiovisual market one of the fastest-growing in the world, the fourth InfoComm MEA attracted 14,233 visitors, 12 percent higher compared to the same time frame as last year.

InfoComm MEA 2014, the region’s leading trade exhibition and summit on the audiovisual market, was held under the theme of “See. Hear. Touch. The Future of Your Business.” from 13-16 October, co-located GITEX Technology Week 2014 at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

During the event, 184 companies from 42 countries showcased the latest in audio, visual, and information communications technologies, including projection, display, audio, lighting, conferencing and interactive touch technologies and systems, spanning education, government, transportation, entertainment, hospitality, building, enterprise and media.

“This is the best InfoComm MEA event ever, the number of visitors and quality of leads generated surpassed our expectations,” said Ron Schouwenburg, trade show and event manager, Mitsubishi Electric. “There are dedicated groups of people that came specifically to visit us in this event with projects at hand.”

Attendees also gained valuable insights on technology updates and industry best practices at the concurrent InfoComm MEA Summit.

Driven by large infrastructure developments such as the World Expo 2020 in Dubai and the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, the MEA audiovisual market is projected to grow from USD 2.79 billion in 2012 to USD 4.63 billion by 2016, according to InfoComm International.

“InfoComm MEA is the premier exhibition and networking event in the region which is why we chose to launch our 1.2 mm LED display at the show,” said Steve Scorse, vice president, EMEA, SiliconCore. “We had a fantastic reception to this, taking over 500 serious enquires and project briefings.”

“The Middle East and Africa is witnessing tremendous growth in the audiovisual market and that’s clearly the case here in Dubai,” said Richard Tan, executive director, InfoComm Asia Pte Ltd. “The strong growth we have seen this year in visitor numbers and the range of solutions we have seen from exhibitors highlights just how well positioned this region is for the future.”

In the audiovisual market, the hospitality sector is among the fastest-growing in the Middle East and Africa, and is set to grow by 66 percent from USD 282 million in 2012 to USD 469 million in 2016, according to InfoComm.

The development of Smart Cities across the region, including in the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, is set to boost expenditure on world-class security systems, including CCTV systems, control rooms and conferencing systems.

“We are seeing and talking to the right people that matter in the industry,” said Alex Asante Yeboah, sales manager, Glux Tech (Shenzhen) Co.Ltd. “Moving forward, this will be the show for us.”