In an absolute first, the organisers of the Italian trade show Myplant & Garden will launch their satellite show in Dubai. Building on the success of the show in Milan, Myplant & Garden Middle East will be held at the Dubai Exhibition Centre between 15 -17 November 2025.
Myplant & Garden is expanding and solidifying its international presence. The most important Italian trade event for professionals in the green industry has officially presented Myplant & Garden Middle East, touted as ‘the first Italian B2B green industry fair in Dubai and the only event dedicated to the ornamental green industry in the Middle East’.
The new trade show is the result of close collaboration between Myplant organisers and IEG Middle East offices, a big name in Dubai’s trade show industry.
The organisers aim to tap into new commercial channels and enter a market with growing potential, driven by a clientele particularly attentive to sustainable development and the enhancement of biodiversity at a local level.
On a larger scale, it is also supported by being the main logistics hub in the region and one of the most important in the world. “IEG aims to increasingly focus on international markets,” explains CEO Corrado Peraboni, “Myplant & Garden Middle East will offer additional business opportunities line with was agreed at the time of the acquisition. The choice of Dubai also aligns with the path already established with JGT Dubai (Jewellery, Gem & Technology) and Dubai Muscle Show, Dubai Active, and Dubai Active Industry. The group’s strategy, aiming to position itself more and more as a global player, is to create spin-offs of its most significant events in the most interesting areas for the various products. Our commitments abroad are growing, looking at non-European markets with greater potential, and Myplant & Garden Middle East is part of this strategic development plan.”
“In expectation of the tenth edition of Myplant,” say the organizers, “we have decided to go to Dubai physically to showcase the quality of a high-level trade fair offering. In 2023, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries – Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar – imported about $390 million worth of plant material. The UAE, with $145 million, and Saudi Arabia, with $130 million, lead the ranking, and the sentiment is positive for the coming years.”
Dubai’s focus on greenery is part of a strategic development vision, which has translated into the enhancement and preservation of natural resources – the eight protected areas cover 31% of the territory – with the goal of protecting, restoring, and promoting natural ecosystems through scientific research initiatives, monitoring, and landscape protection.
Furthermore, the development of commercial and residential activities towards desert areas and the concentration of tourism, especially in coastal areas (Dubai is one of the most visited destinations in the world), offer ample opportunities for the entry of horticultural products and services: as design materials for urban, construction, and infrastructural development, as a distinctive element in organizing hospitality spaces, as a tool for creating a habitat resilient to climate change, and as a subject for R&D in precision agriculture and sustainable cultivation within a framework of public investments in high-innovation sectors.
The UAE’s floricultural import in 2023 settled at $145 million, constantly increasing from $79 million in 2020 to $116 million in 2022.
The Netherlands is the leading trade partner (>28% of imports), followed by Kenya (>22%). Ecuador (>8%) and China (7%) vie for third place, far behind the top two countries. Colombia, Thailand, Spain, India, France, and the United States complete the top ten.
In this context, the ‘Made in Italy’ product – even though Italy is the third-largest exporter worldwide, with over 5% of the shares – still plays a marginal role, with exports to the UAE estimated just above $1 million (equivalent to 0.8% of the UAE’s floricultural imports).
The Italian product has great potential to penetrate the Emirate markets, in line with the needs dictated by the ongoing development strategies in those territories. Also thanks to the strategic partnership signed between Italy and the UAE in 2023, which opens up new collaborations in the circular economy and sustainable development, innovation and 4.0 technologies, agritech and greentech, renewable energies, and clean technologies, food security, and advanced industry and technologies.