Amid the instability that has hit the regional markets owing to the repercussions of the global economic crisis, Syria is one such country, which is not affected by the crisis. Despite the political situation and the current instability, the printing and packaging market in Syria has survived. Major printing presses and companies have braved the challenges, while many small to medium printing presses is still struggling to stay alive. ME Printer magazine spoke with some of the major companies operating in the printing and packaging sector to know the challenges faced by the printing presses in midst of the current situation.
Al Tarabiche is one of the most important and leading printing presses in the Middle East, which was founded in 1933. Benefiting from the experience of more than 300 professional and technical employees, the press is situated in an area of more than 14,000 square meters. The facility is equipped with the latest equipment and capabilities in the field of printing and includes offset and flexo machines, stamping, thermal printing, prepress and press equipments. Statistics show that the company has about 26% market share in the packaging sector of Syria.
Speaking about the effect of the recent political events on the printing and packaging sectors, Hassan Al Tarabiche, Production Manager in the company, said that the sector has been hardly affected with the recent upcoming. He added that the printing and packaging sector did not witness any decline in demand due to its close connection with several important sectors such as food, health, medicine etc.
He said that the diversity of the Syrian market and the operation of various industries as well as the printing and packaging sector have contributed to the limited impact of the global economic crisis on Syria. Tarabaishe mentioned that on the contrary, the company saw an increase in the average demand for its products during the crisis, unlike the case with other countries. He said that this led major companies to direct their investments to Syria to exploit the economic potential enjoyed by the Syrian market.
Andalusia Press, which is one of the oldest institutions of printing in Syria, was founded in 1958 in the Syrian city of Homs. Refaat Zakaria, an official of the press said to the magazine that the print market in Syria was not much affected by the events and pointed out that the companies and institutions working outside the country had a major role in maintaining the stability of the printing presses in the country. He added, “Most of the Syrian presses deal with customers in countries like Lebanon, Kuwait, GCC and Iran, which is the main reason why we were not affected by political situations.”
Zakaria mentioned that the nature of the jobs mostly undertaken by the Syrian presses included printing cardboard boxes, paper etc, which does not require much expertise. He added that this has also contributed to the strong influx of revenue to the Syrian market.
Medium and small printing presses, who didn’t have a list of stable clients and customers couldn’t survive the global and political impact. Those involved in the printing press fear that political ultimatums and penalties might be imposed on Syria by neighbouring countries, which will affect the activities of the printing market. These regulations might affect the movement of printing equipments, spare parts, raw materials etc. As the printing presses heavily rely on the orders from foreign countries, any restrictions on the trade movement or exchange will be a sever blow to the industry. With the situation getting unstable day by day the printing and packaging players in Syria are keeping their fingers crossed and hoping for the best.