The East African Community (EAC), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (Unido) and Ipack-Ima, Italy’s leading organiser of exhibitions for the processing and packaging technology industries, will hold a first of its kind exhibition in Nairobi, Kenya, in September 2014.

EAC Head of Department Corporate Communications and Public Affairs, Owora Richard Othieno, said that an agreement to organise a major processing and packaging exhibition was signed in Vienna yesterday by the Secretary General of EAC, Dr Richard Sezibera, the Director General of UNIDO, Dr Kandeh K. Yumkella, and the Chief Executive Officer of Ipack-Ima, Dr Guido Corbella.

“This partnership will bring new processing and packaging technologies closer to industries, particularly small and medium scale enterprises in East Africa,” said Dr Yumkella.

“It will also help analyse the current situation of different technologies in the field of processing and packaging in the EAC Partner States and identify potential opportunities for industrial development,” he said.

“The event marks a major milestone in addressing one of the key challenges of our agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and other strategic sectors of our industrial policy. We anticipate that a good number of companies, including SMEs will have the opportunity to access appropriate packaging and processing technologies,” Dr Sezibera said.