Sustainable evelopment on track

For the past 35 years as a primary member of Harwal Group of Companies, Interplast Group including Cosmoplast, manufacture and market a wide range of packaging materials, household and outdoor products, electrical and building materials. Relentless efforts to improve never stop. During a recent interview with International Plastics News - Middle East (IRNE), Mr. Bedros Bambokian, Executive Director of Interplast Group shared his vision about the prospects of the company, the overall potential of the region and his outlook for 2010.

IRNE: What are your target markets?

Bambokian: Interplast is a leading plastic manufacturer in the Middle East. We produce a variety of plastic products that include DECODUCT cable management systems, EDISON wiring accessories, INTERGARD cable protection systems, IP-Harwal compounds (uPVC, CPVC, PP, PE) and masterbatches, IP packaging materials, DECOPACK luxury shopping bags, DURAMAX home improvement products that include sheds, fences, doors and window profiles, ALUPEX aluminium composite panels, Cosmoplast pipeline systems and household products. Our products are exported to over 55 countries with our main business in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, Middle East, Africa, Europe, while the United States (US) is another fast growing market.

IRNE: How many manufacturing facilities does Interplast operate within United Arab Emirates (UAE) and outside the region?

Bambokian: With such wide product range, in the UAE alone, we have facilities in 15 locations located in Sharjah, Dubai and Abu Dhabi, with the regional head office in Sharjah. We also operate a manufacturing facility in Riyadh with sales offices in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. We also have factories in Russia and our other international offices are located in the United Kingdom, France, Cyprus and USA with auxiliary manufacturing plants in the USA. In all our facilities, we believe that investment in infrastructure is pivotal to ensure quality of the end-products. Hence, we procure machinery from the best manufacturers across the world, European, American or Far Eastern, while raw materials come from suppliers in the GCC, mainly Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar.



"We are very optimistic about the future of the region as the entire GCC market holds a lot of potential for environment-friendly products."
?Mr. Bedros Bambokian,
Executive Director, Interplast Group

IRNE: How does Interplast maintain its stringent levels of quality and service in times of stiff competition?

Bambokian: Irrespective of the competition, we stick to our philosophy and maintain high service and quality levels. Our in-house QA team ensures that all products are manufactured to stringent international quality standards. This unwavering stance has made Interplast Group the leading manufacturer and supplier within this sector. Our customers realise this and supported our growth over the years. We do not want to compete by compromising on quality; we want to compete by providing innovative products. Most of our divisions are ISO 9001:2008 certified and our quality procedures are in line with the certification standards.



IRNE: How does Interplast exhibit Corporate Social Responsibility in times of global warming and alarming carbon footprints?

Bambokian: We strongly endorse sustainable development hence we manufacture products that are environment friendly while our production processes are geared towards reducing carbon footprints. We manufacture products that are biodegradable. We were one of the first companies to invest to manufacture biodegradable plastic bags. At the same time we have dedicated recycling facilities which process all the scrap materials generated by our diverse operations and by others. We continue to invest inMen's Tops