Ahead of its participation in the most awaited exhibition in 2016 - Drupa, HP’s Gido van Praag, vice president & general manager Graphics Solutions Business Printing and Personal Systems Group Europe, Middle East and Africa made a familiarization trip to the Middle East region.  

In an exclusive interview  with PrintWeek MEA,  van Praag explained: “The biggest growth opportunities are expected from Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa, while for the HP’s graphics business Turkey and UAE among others are very important markets.   We are launching new product categories, which will be introduced in untapped markets.  For example our page wide technology is a new product category that  was launched at the Sign and Graphics Imaging show this year for this region.  Likewise even publishing is relatively new, along with the decorative segment of latex, which is also another potential growth segment for us. We are backing 3D as well.  Though the technology is still in its infancy and the market is fragmented,  but at HP we are investing and will be launching the first products to select customers in Western Europe by the end of this calendar year.  With our technology we aim to bring 3D away from the hype to the mainstream, to create a real robust solution for short run manufacturing.  I am extremely proud of HP’s ability to  leverage this intellectual property over different technology platforms which allows quick development cycles, excellent utilization of R & D resources across the group since we have big plans to increase productivity. So all in all, 3D is an important product category for us  moving forward.”

 Commenting on HP’s participation at Drupa, van Praag said: “HP will be having the tradeshow’s largest booth in hall 17 at Drupa to display our latest technology and product launches.”