A pen that can read Quran verse aloud is one of the more unusual products on display at the 4th China Sourcing Fair, which has opened in Dubai.
Retailing for $33, the pen rolls over the verse of the Quran and reads the words aloud, said Eric Wang, sales manager with Shenzhen Hexie Mei’an Electronic, the Chinese technology firm that invented the pen.
“We aim to serve 1.6bn Muslims worldwide with our products. One of my colleagues is a Muslim engineer from Pakistan and… he helps us design new products to benefit Muslims,” Wang added.
The trade fair was opened by the Chinese Consul-General to Dubai Gao Youzhen and UAE Foreign Trade Minister Sheikha Lubna bint Khalid Al Qasimi and organsiers said they have seen the number of exhibitors rise eighteen percent to 1,310 this year.
“The growth of the China Sourcing Fair over the years in Dubai reflects the expanding demand for China-made products throughout the Middle East,” said Helal Almarri, CEO of the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Last year, trade between China and the UAE reached $28.2bn in 2008 at the height of the boom. However, the global financial downturn saw it fall to $21.2bn last year.
Earlier this month, the chief executive of Invest AD, the Abu Dhabi based financial services firm, said that China and the Middle East were likely to expand two-way capital flows rapidly in the coming years, as investment catches up with recent fast growth in trade.
In the last five years two-way trade between China and the Middle East had tripled to $107bn in 2009. Chinese companies have been most active in the infrastructure sector of the Middle East, winning $2.1bn worth of construction deals in the UAE alone, in 2008.
Al Kudsi, chief executive officer, Invest AD, said: “There are exciting opportunities for both sides, and as China looks at MENA, Abu Dhabi is emerging as the easiest and most attractive route into the region.”
