by Shannon Parsons and Costa Skotidas, International Aquafeed and Fish Farming Technology magazine, UK
The fourth edition of the Saudi International Marine Exhibition and Conference (SIMEC) recently took place on 3 – 5 February 2025, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabi at the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center. The largest aquaculture event in the region, the tradeshow showcased Saudi Arabia’s commitment to sustainability and innovation in the fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
Networking
To start the show off, attendees were greeted at the Welcome Ceremony, where an Awards Ceremony also took place. City Events, the organiser for SIMEC, proudly honoured their partners with awards, including International Aquafeed magazine, bringing the attended visitors from said partners onstage.
SIMEC also brought together 21 countries into one location, with participation from 15 government entities and 15,000 visitors, the tradeshow offered a multitude of opportunities for networking with various interactive experiences. The most prominent moment being the ‘Cooking Experience with the Chef’, where more than 120 expert’s chefs showcased traditional Saudi seafood dishes.
Networking is a prime opportunity to reconnect with existing partnerships.
“The relationship between dsm-firmenich and Arasco has been going on more than 30 years. It started a long time ago in the business for feed in general. Then Arasco started aquafeed in 1995, and then we [dsm-firmenich] extended it with aqua. Now we are extending our relation to another level with Arasco,” says Mohannad Humaidah, Country Head of Nutritional Products at dsm-firmenich, when discussing their longstanding partnership with Arasco.
An important feature though were the partnerships curated at the event, with 12 MOU’s agreements signed. A few that took place were:
- Signing of the Investment Agreement between the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu and Topian, NEOM Food Company
- Signing of a cooperation agreement between Tobian Neom and Tharwat Seas
- Signing of a memorandum of understanding between the Saudi Fisheries Company and the Arabian Agricultural Services Company (ARASCO)
- Signing of a cooperation agreement between the Agricultural Development Fund and the Saudi Aquaculture Systems Factory Company (SAQUA)
Workshops
Organising workshops were an important factor for SIMEC, ensuring they provided the latest information in trends, topics, technology and more. Altogether, the show featured 20 workshops, some of which being ‘Awareness and Marketing Campaigns for Seafood’, ‘Environmental Monitoring in Aquaculture’ and ‘Nucleotides for health & performance with effect on disease resistance’.
The final topic mentioned was led by dsm-firmenich’s Aqua Marketing Manager for EMEA, Bo Groth Bendsen. He shared with us some information after the workshops.
“The purpose was to inform them about our experiences and our trials and how we can bring down the mortality of fish and improve resistance and fish robustness. In this market as well, we see a big ambition in the growth of aquaculture in the Saudi market” he says.
Interviews
International Aquafeed magazines Sales Manager, Costa Skotidas, attended this year’s SIMEC event and had the wonderful pleasure to interview and meet with many of the exhibitors. Costa went around to view the importance of the event with various companies.
With Philippos Papageorgiou, former VP of Operations for the National Fisheries Development Program, he tells Costa “[SIMEC] is an event that is well needed for the wider region. There is a lot of work that has been done is Saudi Arabia, very strong foundations for the development of aquaculture… This event is a very good place for the international industry to come here and see how the [Saudi Arabia] industry is moving.”
“SIMEC is the most important aquaculture event in Saudi and the Norwegian companies has to be here. Saudi has tremendous ambitions to develop their aquaculture sector, they’re looking for new tech and I believe the Norwegian companies have the tech. The sustainable solutions and the competence are helping Saudi achieve their target,” says Anne Lorgen Riise, Country Director for the Middle East in Innovation Norway.
“We love this show as most of the experts in the region are here, we see them here and it’s a good networking area. We are here for networking and showcasing our services and whatever new we have done in one year as our growth is high,” says Mohammad Tabish, Found and CEO of Aqua Bridge Group.
“We have been in the Saudi market for years, it is home to us. We come here [SIMEC] every year, have many good friends and many projects realised in the area, so, I and the Saudi people feel very close together and the cooperation will carry on for years. The market here is developing and we’re really happy about it,” says Alexandros Kyriazia, Sales Manager for Stamatiou SA, when asked not only about SIMEC, but the Saudi Arabia market as well.
“It is important for us to be in one place, exchanging experience, observations, opportunities, and update each other about what is going on all over the world. I believe things are moving fast in aquaculture and getting more important from a food security point of view,” says Alawi Husain Alwai, Director of the Industrial & Engineering Operations Division of the National Aquaculture Group (naqua).
“This is our third time in SIMEC, and we have been working in Saudi for 10 years- Oman, Quatar, Emirates. We are happy, we have business in the area, we are introducing new standards and good quality products and have great expectations. We will be attending next year and the years to come,” says Jordi Comas, International Sales Director for EMEA in Morenot.
Next Time
The fifth edition of SIMEC will be announced soon but is planned to be held in February 2026, with more information on the event to come. To stay updated then keep an eye on our website for more. We look forward to seeing at the next event.
Please read the detailed event report published in our March edition here.
