A top official said that the UAE steel tube industry will witness an annual growth of 17%until 2015,driven largely by the oil and gas industry.

Mr Asad Ullah Mohammed general manager OKI Bering Middle East,a leading American welding,safety and industrial products wholesaler with offices in Canada and the UAE said that"The oil and gas industry is the fastest growing sector in the Middle East where welding,tube and pipe segment is the second industrial largest and is considered to be the preferred means of promoting diversification and sustained economic development in the region."

Mr Mohammed was speaking ahead of the Arabia Essen Welding&Cutting 2013,the expo dedicated to welding machinery and technology,from January 7th to 10th at the Dubai International Exhibition and Convention Centre.

He said that"We are exciting about participating at the first edition of the Essen Welding&Cutting show in Dubai.We strongly believe this show will offer us an opportunity to showcase our product range and thus boost our business in the GCC region."

Mr Satish Khanna general manager of Al Fajer Information&Services said that"This new show provides a regional platform for wholesale industrial products.We are delighted by the response to the show which has attracted significant industrial companies from all over the globe in its inaugural edition."

Mr Khanna said that the welding show will leverage on the leading position of the Tekno and Tube shows which have established themselves as international events for industrial machinery,metal working,machine tools,tubes and pipes.The three shows will offer an ideal platform for companies to gain inroads in the booming Middle East market.

Exhibitors in Arabia Essen Welding&Cutting will include manufacturers of welding equipment,consumables and accessories as well as traders of fume extraction devices,pool monitoring systems,seam measurement and evaluation devices,among others.

Mr Mohammed added that"Since 1937,OKI Bering has been offering a variety of high quality products from over 100 of the top manufacturers in the industry.We focus on continuous improvement by regularly evaluating our performance and methods,and incorporating the latest technology to communicate with our customers."