A Piece of Normalcy – NOELKEN GROUP Successfully Presents at Arab Health

After months without in-person events, companies in the health and medical sectors were able to present themselves to an interested specialist audience again from June 21-24, 2021. The NOELKEN GROUP draws a positive conclusion from Arab Health.

„To be honest, we were surprised when we learned that Arab Health 2021 would actually take place as a physical trade fair,“ recalls Thomas Schnitter, Head of Sales & Marketing at Nölken Hygiene Products GmbH. „But of course, we took the opportunity, and looking back, we can say that our participation in the trade fair was a complete success.“ Besides MEDICA, which is scheduled for November 15-18 in Düsseldorf this year, Arab Health is the second-largest international trade fair for medical technology and hospital equipment. It is considered the most important trade event in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, with focus areas including medical technology, electromedicine, physiotherapy and orthopedics, as well as disposable and consumable items. Despite the special circumstances in the Corona year 2021, around 78,000 visitors from 66 countries attended the 46th edition of the annual trade fair. Visitors, predominantly from the region, were able to learn about new and established medical products on 64,000 sqm, attend accompanying specialist conferences, refresh old contacts, and make new ones. Among the 4,500 exhibitors from 150 countries was the German NOELKEN GROUP, which had agreed to a joint trade fair appearance with both of its affiliated companies for the first time. The two companies have pooled their expertise since April 2020 after many years of cooperation. Since 1982, Nölken, as a manufacturer of wet wipes, breast pads, and cosmetic care products, has stood for the highest standards in hygiene products. With the RHEOSOL brand and other products and services in the hygiene sector, NW-Chemie GmbH from Troisdorf complements the NOELKEN GROUP's offering.

Together, Nölken and NW-Chemie presented disinfectants and cleaning agents for the medical field, skin disinfectants and skincare products for professional applications, as well as classic baby care products in Dubai. Visitors to the joint stand under the umbrella of the internationally respected German Pavilion were impressed by the extensive product range in the areas of cosmetics, hygiene, medical, and disinfection. The disinfection products presented, in particular, met with strong interest from the international audience. For the particularly well-represented Arab region, alcohol-free disinfectant wipes were the clear trade fair highlight and a product perfectly tailored to the target group.

In addition to existing customers, who were able to use face-to-face meetings again to plan future distribution, the executives of both group companies, NW-Chemie Managing Director Jan Wachendorff, Sales Director Dirk Rehage (NW-Chemie), and Head of Sales & Marketing Thomas Schnitter (Nölken), were able to lay the foundation for future business relationships in productive discussions. Medical distributors from Portugal and two distributors from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain showed particular interest.

„We are confident that the new international contacts made in Dubai will lead to sustainable cooperation in the medium term,“ explains Jan Wachendorff, Managing Director of NW-Chemie. „Furthermore, the trade fair was also another important building block for the productive collaboration within the NOELKEN GROUP.“

Following the MEDICA in Düsseldorf, announced for November, in which the NOELKEN GROUP is already confirmed to participate, the 47th Arab Health will take place again from January 24th to 27th, 2022.