Riyadh – Mubasher: The Middle East Paper Co. (MEPCO) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Arab Federation for Paper, Printing and Packaging Industries (AFPPPI) to boost the sector's mechanisms.
The MoU was signed during a three-day 10th Middle East International Exhibition for Paper, Board, Tissue, Printing & Packaging Industry (Paper ME) held in Cairo, Egypt.
PAPER ME has a leading position in the industry and "attracts more than 400 paper and packaging exhibitors from across the Middle East, encouraging companies to actively contribute to the development of the Federation," MEPCO’s CEO Sami Safran said.
A first step to support the MEPCO-AFPPPI's collaboration, the Federation will move its GCC headquarters to MEPCO's HQ in Jeddah, the top official revealed.
This move "will enhance its ability to provide benefits and value-added services to all regional companies operating in the paper and packaging industries," Safran highlighted.
Under the deal, MEPCO and the Federation will cooperate economically and technically, in addition to issuing reports, researches, and statistics to enhance the sector’s performance.
The PAPER ME event runs from 10 to 12 September.
In August, MEPCO signed the first partnership with the UK-based Closir Company in a bid to bolster corporate access for regional and global investors as Closir directly connects listed companies in emerging markets to institutional investors.
MEPCO last reported that its profits jumped 59.09% to reach SAR 28.9 million in the second quarter of 2018, compared to SAR 18.18 million from a year ago. As for the first half of the year, MEPCO's profits soared 166% to SAR 57 million from SAR 21.4 million during H1-17.
