Three new single-width presses online in two months signal ‘business as usual’ for Goss in the Gulf and Egypt.

Regional sales manager Paul Feeney says the installations in Bahrain, Oman and Cairo all reflect the need to gain greater control of production and productivity.

“While these orders were placed before anyone had heard of the Arab Spring, timing of the installations underlines the continued importance of printed news within the modern multimedia landscape,” he says. “Social media were certainly instrumental in precipitating events, but printed media continue to be essential for communicating in the aftermath.”

A two-tower Community with two SSC folders is being commissioned for the Police Press Pension Fund in Cairo, following an order through agent Youssef Allam.

In Oman, a new four-tower Community with one heatset dryer for Apex Press and Publishing will solve the problems of using contract printers for its growing portfolio.

Control of print quality and deadlines for the newly-launched ‘Muscat Daily’, in particular, was paramount.

“Most of our competitors focus on the Asian sub-continent, often using reconstituted news from the Internet,” says chief executive Saleh Zakwani. “Our approach is to cater to a reader profile that is essentially multicultural but with the limitation that, for us, local news is king.”

A new Community for Publishing & Distribution in Bahrain, went on edition a couple of month ago to print daily newspaper ‘Al-Watan’ (which means The Nation) as well as weekly and monthly publications. The new press line comprises five four-high towers, with ten 1270 mm reelstands, a ten-web N40 folder for half and quarter pages with upper former and a gas dryer.