A new event will be taking place in Oman on 20 and 21 September; because of the unprecedented growth of container throughput in the Middle Eastern Ports, the organisers have called this conference to discuss why the growth has taken place and its impact on the global export and import trade. Rising living standards in the area are driving demand for imports of consumer goods, whilst the local petro-chemical industry is manufacturing by-products which form the basis of containerised exports from the region. Container flows and logisitics services are therefore going to evolve into different models from those seen in the past, and members of the ports, container shipping, freight and logistics industries should take this opportunity to meet with the decision makers in this area.