AMMAN — The 17th edition of INTERBUILD Near East concluded on Thursday, with organisers pointing to an expanded international pavilion and a deepening green-building focus as what set this year's edition.

 

The exhibition, held under the patronage of Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub Qudah, drew more than 120 Jordanian and international companies over four days, according to a statement from organisers, who reported more than 3,000 visitors on the first day alone.

 

The opening ceremony was led by JEDCO Executive Director Ghaleb Hijazi on the minister's behalf, and attended by Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong.

 

Hani Ghanem, an organiser at Golden Gate for Organising of Exhibition said "What's different this year is that we brought Green Building into Interbuild. The international side has been expanding for several years, and this year we have a full, large international pavilion."

 

 

The 17th edition of INTERBUILD Near East concludes on Thursday (Photos by Ahmad Alkhawaldeh)

 

The world pavilion was large enough this year that the ambassador toured it personally at the opening. It was anchored by a sizeable Chinese delegation with a strong focus on stone and marble, an industry described as growing in Jordan and increasingly export-oriented, according to Ghanem.

 

"There's real growth in synthetic stone as an industry in Jordan, and it's largely export-oriented. Most of the companies making synthetic stone here are taking part." He said

 

Iric Zheng, representing a stone and marble machinery manufacturer, Begita Technology from China said "Our company was founded 40 years ago, but for the Jordan market, for this exhibition, it's our first time here; cooperation with Jordan factories is just beginning from last year."

 

Zheng said the Middle East accounts for roughly 10 to 15 per cent of his company's sales, behind India, at around half, and eastern Europe, but called the region's potential "big."

 

He said he planned to spend ten additional days visiting factories and customers around Amman after the show to better understand local demand.

 

Leslie Mai, representing a Guangdong-based steel manufacturer from China as well, said this was her personal first trip abroad for the company, on the exhibition's third day. She said "the customers come here, not only from Jordan, but other countries too."

 

 

The 17th edition of INTERBUILD Near East concludes on Thursday (Photos by Ahmad Alkhawaldeh)

 

Beyond the exhibition floor, the four-day programme included sessions, webinars and interactive talks on urban planning and development across different cities, alongside green infrastructure and sustainable building design, continuing the "Green Interbuild" branding introduced in 2025.

 

Ghanem said the joint name reflects overlap on the show floor: plenty of companies not formally branded as "green" businesses still carry eco-friendly or energy-efficient product lines. That overlap extended to the certification side of the exhibition.

 

A growing number of Jordanian companies and organisations are now offering LEED-style green-building certification, assessing factors from solar installations to construction materials to indoor air quality, giving builders and developers a concrete, as well as growing set of incentives to meet efficiency standards, according to exhibitors on the floor.

 

The organiser said Gulf countries already have green-building codes in place that Jordan has yet to adopt, even as local interest grows, pointing to a recent lecture on the subject held by Jordan's engineers' association