Event: First processing and packaging exhibition to be held in East Africa in 2014

The East African Community (EAC), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and Ipack-Ima, Italy’s leading organizer of exhibitions for the processing and packaging technology industries, will hold a first of its kind exhibition in East Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2014.

An agreement to organise a major processing and packaging exhibition was signed last week in Vienna by the Secretary General of EAC, Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera, the Director General of UNIDO, Dr. Kandeh K. Yumkella, and the Chief Executive Officer of Ipack-Ima, Dr. Guido Corbella.

“The event marks a major milestone in addressing one of the key challenges of the agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and other strategic sectors of our industrial policy.  We anticipate that a good number of companies, including SMEs will have the opportunity to access appropriate packaging and processing technologies”, said Dr. Sezibera.

“This partnership will bring new processing and packaging technologies closer to industries, particularly small and medium scale enterprises in East Africa”, said Dr. Yumkella.  “It will also help analyse the current situation of different technologies in the field of processing and packaging in the EAC Partner States and identify potential opportunities for industrial development.”

“The signing of this agreement is an impressive result for our company,” says Ipack-Ima spa CEO. “The packaging industry is a key sector of the world’s economy, and can make a substantial contribution to providing healthy and more plentiful food for everyone. As much as 60% of the total food produced globally deteriorates, or goes wasted, due to the lack of proper processing and packaging. The fact that UNIDO and EAC have chosen Ipack-Ima as their partner in this ambitious project is the result of our continuous commitment to promoting processing and packaging technologies. The planned exhibition will be the first event of its kind to bring to the EAC region processing and packaging technologies best suited to the needs of the region”.