MIE Groups is bringing its time-tested ability to make deals happen to the US with The America Property Exhibition (APEX) at New York City’s The Javits Center from June 12th to the 14th. The three-day conference will feature panels, seminars, and a show floor with booths from the US and attendees from GCC and MENA nations, all coming together with the goal of expanding bilateral trade and investment. The Real Deal spoke with MIE Chairman & CEO David Wang, Group Vice President Zahoor Ahmed, and Sales Manager Bato Prostran about how the APEX platform will help build a robust investment bridge between these booming regions.
For more information on being a part of the APEX experience please contact Bato Prostran, Bato@mieevents.com, or call (312) 842-5382.
A Proven Track Record
MIE Groups was founded 23 years ago in Dubai as a professional trade show organizer. The firm’s early successes were based on bringing Chinese companies to trade shows in Africa and the Middle East; soon MIE Groups had established an exhibition footprint around the GCC and Africa.
Simply put, MIE Groups brings together members of the building, manufacturing, real estate, and investing worlds in order to make business connections possible. The firm measures its success in deals made via its exhibitions.“The key to any trade show is getting the right exhibitor with the right attendee, and staying out of their way,” explains industry veteran Prostran. “If we can get them in that big hall together, then we’ve done our job.”
Take, for example, MIE Groups’ recent Ghana Investment and Trade Week Summit in Accra. “It was held with the Ghanaian Investment Promotion Center, which is the commercial arm of the government,” says Ahmed. “We were highlighting energy projects, we were highlighting construction, and we were highlighting any kind of infrastructure.” MIE Groups brought in delegations from the UAE and South Africa, and the event produced a number of new partnerships; for example, a Ghanaian chocolate distributor picked up a host of new products from South African manufacturers, while the Asian construction materials delegations found buyers among the local property developers.
“Those kinds of Memorandums of Understanding are one of our main KPIs for these events,” says Ahmed.
Face to Face Meetings Are the Best Way to Get Deals Done
The trade show model may seem old school in the era of remote work and ZOOM conferences, but in-person meetings, show booths, and seminars are a proven way of garnering new business and bringing potential deals to a close. “For our exhibitors, this is an investment just like any other,” says Prostran. “Their ROI is to meet the right people, the ROI for us is to have the right people in the room with them.”
Prostran told the story of a rice company rep who attended a trade show he put on and walked away having signed a multi-million dollar distribution agreement with someone he met on the floor. But these kinds of shows can also serve the simpler function of bringing people face to face to cement a deal that was already in the works. Even in the digital age, the tried and true face-to-face meeting is still worth a lot.
Building A New Bridge
APEX, which will be MIE Groups’ first foray into the American market, couldn’t come at a better time or target a riper intersection of industries. “We identified a gap in what we call the investment bridge between the US and the GCC and Asia,” says Ahmed. GCC and MENA investors are itching to make inroads into the stable US property market in order to diversify their portfolios. Matching these investors with US builders looking for money in a tight lending market could be a match made in heaven.
In the other direction, GCC countries are working to bring foreign property investors and developers into their region with projects like the Wynn Resorts in Ras Al Khaimah. APEX will build a bridge that investors and developers from both regions can cross.
“There are a lot of very limited platforms that can link opportunities,” explains Ahmed, “but we’re aiming to expand the market, create exposure for import and export and foreign direct investment happening both ways.” Unlike existing trade shows, APEX will not focus on a single city or industry but bring together parties at a regional level, creating a maximum potential for meetings and deals.
APEX will feature upwards of 300 exhibitors catering to all levels of the commercial property sector, from investment banks to brokers to REITs to architects to builders. “The APEX model fits really well in terms of bringing project owners, investors, and buyers together in the same room,” says Ahmed. “The supply side of the real estate sector will be the focus.”
MIE Groups is still soliciting papers and other submissions from attendees who want to present at the show.