With 147 countries participating, the "Big Five" exhibition in Dubai will kick off on November 23, featuring the world’s most renowned companies seeking new markets across various sectors in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, which attract many companies in the construction, building, and interior design industries.

This year’s exhibitors confirmed that companies in Europe’s construction sector are increasingly turning to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries in search of investment opportunities, growth in Middle Eastern markets is one of the main reasons for their company’s participation in this exhibition once again in 2015, while construction markets in the European Union continue to show only a slow recovery. They face many difficulties, which has led them to turn to the Middle East to find suitable alternatives.

It is worth noting that the Big Five exhibition has been running for more than 35 years and has evolved to become the largest specialized construction exhibition in the Middle East. Last year’s exhibition was held alongside two companion events—the Middle East Concrete Exhibition and the Machinery, Equipment, and Vehicles Exhibition—and broke all attendance records, with more than 80,000 visitors from around the world attending the three exhibitions.