Dubai-based commercial and packaging printer Delta Printing Press has signed a joint venture agreement with New Delhi-based narrow label printer Kumar Labels to set up a labelling production facility in Dubai.
Kabeer Jalaluddin, chairman of Delta Printing Press, told Packaging MEA that the the joint venture is “a good marriage of our regional market know-how and relationship coupled with Kumar Labels’ production and converting expertise”.
“The new narrow web flexo investment comprises an 8-colour flexo press with inline coldfoil and die-cutting capabilities with allied slitting and other converting machinery, while we would outsource prepress,” he said.
The new facility will be at Delta Printing Press’s plant in Al Quoz, Dubai.
Delta plans to expand into the African markets with production facilities in Ghana and Sudan in the near future, he added.
Anuj Bhargava of Kumar Labels said his firm had a clear plan of finding a local partner in the Gulf.
“When we visited Dubai in 2011 and had a study on the labelling market, we found that the market had a lot of success and frustrations as well. Although the market here in Dubai and the GCC is very mature with the state-of-the-art machinery, we found that the products produced were very monotonous and mediocre in innovation.
“For example, we could not find any printer with different inline effects whilst no one was doing anything offline. Innovation was limited and so was the price range as well. As Kumar Labels, we specialise in offline work starting with letterpress, silkscreen as well as flexography processes.”