5th Middle East Tyre, Auto & Spare Parts Expo opens in Sharjah

The 5th Middle East Tyre, Auto & Spare Parts Expo (METAS 2026) officially opened today at Expo Centre Sharjah, with 44 Chinese enterprises from 8 provinces joining 7 international exhibitors from the UAE and Jordan for three days of trade, matchmaking, and investment discussions.

Opening ceremony was attended by H.E. Abdalla Sultan Al Owais, Chairman of the Sharjah Chamber of Commerce and Industry; H.E. Diaby Vacaba, Ambassador of the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire to the UAE; H.E. Isaac Annanias Moyo, Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe to the UAE; and H.E. Zerihun Megersa , Consul General of the Consulate General of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Dubai and the Northern Emirates. Also in attendance were Mr. Xian Yi, Deputy Consul General of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Dubai, the Shandong Provincial Government Economic and Trade Representative Office in West Asia and Africa, the Shandong Business Council in the UAE, alongside industry partners and media representatives.

"This is more than an exhibition. It is a multi-purpose platform," said Fa Wenyan, General Manager of Inter Commerce Expo Corp., the expo organizer. "100 Chinese business delegation from across China have travelled to Sharjah to invest, to build distribution networks, and to grow long-term business in this region. The UAE, and Sharjah in particular, remains the unshakable gateway for Chinese automotive brands to reach buyers across the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia."

The exhibition spans the full automotive aftermarket supply chain, with exhibitors showcasing passenger car and truck tyres, alloy wheels, brake systems, engine components, commercial vehicle parts, automotive electronics, bearings, and complete vehicles.

Liu Ju'an, General Manager of the host, Hualun Inter Tech FZCO, noted the expo's continued evolution: "METAS has grown from a China-focused platform into a truly international event. Welcoming exhibitors from Jordan alongside our UAE-based partners demonstrates that Sharjah is increasingly seen not just as a gateway to regional buyers, but as a destination where the global automotive trade community comes to do business."

On August 4, the second day of the exhibition, METAS will host the "Shandong Quality World Wide — Shandong Automotive & Auto Parts Industry Promotion and Precision Sourcing Matchmaking Conference." The event will bring together 100 pre-screened international buyers from the automotive sector for structured one-on-one matching with Chinese exhibitors. This marks the first of four activities under the Department of Commerce of Shandong Province's "One Industry, One Policy" Foreign Trade Excellence Program for the automotive and auto parts sector, with the remaining three events to be held in Shandong, Guangdong, and Shanghai, China.

The organizers confirmed that METAS will return to Expo Centre Sharjah for its 6th edition in 2027. In the nearer term, a delegation of automotive business leaders from Sharjah and the UAE will visit Shandong Province, China, in September 2026 for trade visits, factory inspections, and bilateral economic cooperation discussions.

METAS 2026 runs from August 3 to 5 at Expo Centre Sharjah, Hall #3. The exhibition is hosted by Shandong Port Overseas Supply Chain (Qingdao) Co., Ltd. and Hualun Inter Tech FZCO, which provides exhibitors with year-round product display, local order fulfillment, and market entry support extending well beyond the three-day event.