Arabian Group for Exhibitions and Conferences are pleased to invite you to join hundreds of international and local companies to explore and open up to the Syrian market at the International Exhibition for Furniture and Interior Design – FURNITURE SHOW which will be held from 26 to 30 April, 2010 on Damascus Fairgrounds, Syria under the patronage of the Syrian Ministry of Economy. The show will be the meeting point for exhibitors and customers where they can learn more about their preferred designs and models, and is a platform for participating companies to present and launch their latest products and innovations. Why Furniture Show? The Furniture Show is a perfect opportunity to be enlightened as it serves as a huge showroom where latest models are on display especially that Syria became a regional center for furniture industry due to its strategic geographic location and the growing potentials that has to offer to the furniture industry, nevertheless it is the homeland of the creative minds and interior architects who creatively invented and developed distinguished designs and solutions for houses, villas, offices and touristic and residential developments in Syria. In addition to all that, the show will be rich with special offers [...]

Dear Sir or Madam, We are delighted to invite you to attend the 10th China Xiamen International Stone Fair (Xiamen Stone Fair 2010), to be held to showcase the largest and finest selection of natural stone and stone machinery on March 6-9, 2010, in the exciting coastal city of Xiamen, China. Exhibition scale, attendance and international delegations will hit a new peak. Xiamen Stone Fair 2010 will further expand the scale to the 90,000 m2 exhibition area with 1,300 exhibitors coming from China, Turkey, Italy, Spain, Iran, Brazil, India, Pakistan, France, Egypt, Finland, Greece, Portugal, South Africa, Israel, Palestine, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Lebanon, Armenia, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Russia, Canada, Australia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia,  South Korea, Japan, USA, Oman and Tunisia…USA, Oman and Tunisia will first showcase their best products in this edition. There will surely be more abundant and splendid products to satisfy your souring needs! We are happy to inform you that Xiamen Stone Fair sells well. By now the space has been mostly booked up. The exhibitor list 2010 has just come out for your reference on our website. December is coming. It’s time to make up your plan to pay a visit to [...]

Indonesia is an archipelago with bountiful natural resources that possesses a rich cultural diversity steeped in its heritage. With more than 300 ethnic groups, and influence of various religions and old traditions from India, Chinese and Europe, Indonesia is heaven of cultures and arts in South East Asia. A combination of creativity and ample natural resources creates an undisputed quality for furniture and handicraft products Asmindo (Indonesian Furniture Industry and Handicraft Association) was established in 1975 as the official representative of Indonesia’s furniture and handicraft industry. It represents 80% of the furniture manufacturers in Indonesia. The profile of this association will be able to bring a lot publicity, participation and interest to the Furniture and Craft Show and in return will expose you to the diverse beauty of Indonesia. Therefore, we would invite your highly-esteemed company to visit Asmindo Furniture and Craft Show (AFCS) 2009 that will unveil the beauty of Indonesia’s treasure. AFCS is a trade show that has been regularly conducted at the Trade Expo Indonesia since 1981. In AFCS 2009, you could find an extensive collection of Indonesia’s quality product on display with competitive price. The Asmindo’s 2009 Furniture and Craft Show will be held on the [...]

The furniture sector in general is one of the focus sectors of the GTZ RED program as identified and defined by a general economic baseline study implemented by RED program. In order to enhance SME growth in this sector through increased competitiveness, GTZ RED in corporation with the regional branch of the Indonesian furniture and handycraft association Surakarta (Asmindo Komda Surakarta) conducted a Design Development Program. Design Development Program is a service programme. As a mediator and dialogue between industry, designers and university, this program has been designed to increase the competitiveness of the furniture manufacturers in Solo region, Central Java through developing their design competencies. The outcome of the program shall be enhanced designs of their products, which will lead to more buyer inquiries and to boosted sales figures. It is geared to allow the manufacturers to create confidence within the companies design departments that they are capable of properly interpreting and executing designs for the so called contemporary furniture market The program addresses the following problems: Lack of human resource quality that affected the consistency in quality and delivery, price and the awareness of the producers/contractors concerning the global market competition Lack of knowledge on international market relations [...]

Furniture producers in Solo region use many local materials in their furniture. The availability of these materials is one of the forces that propel the Solo region furniture export industry to become more creative by combining these indigenous materials together with traditional materials in design and manufacturing of products for the world market. The brief description of the materials are mentioned as follows: Rattan Rattans are climbing palms – belonging to the subfamily Calamoideae – that provide the raw material for the cane-furniture industry. Most (70%) of the world’s rattan population exist in Indonesia, distributed among Borneo, Celebes, Sumbawa islands. The rattan’s stem, referred to as cane, is solid and strong, stripped of its leaf sheats, uniform, light, and flexible. It can be bent and will hold various shapes. The canes can be used as whole form for furniture, or split, peeled or cored for matting and basketry. Water Hyacinth Water hyacinths comprise the genus Eichhornia of free-floating perennial aquatic plants native to tropical countries. Water hyacinths have been widely introduced throughout North America, Asia, Australia and Africa. Water hyacinth is harvested, dried then tightly plaited to form a strong rope then applied to a furniture frame. Water hyacinth furniture [...]

Furniture Industry of Solo Furniture production found in the four sub-regions contributed from 0.64% to 3.83% to the local GRDP. The role of furniture production is very significant in some sub-regions that contribute more than 3% to their total GRDP. At the local level, all produce furniture mostly within smal and medium enterprises (SME’s), implying a definite importance in terms of employment opportunities. The production process in the sub-regions is characterized by hand-made production processes through subcontracting relationships. With the number 216 producers and exporters (the average labor around 50 persons per company) and 5,200 home industry (the average labor around 6 persons per industry), furniture industry in Solo region has absorb around 44,000 employment. Craftsmanship When focusing on the craftsmanship of the manufactures of Solo region, most companies seems to be quite able to produce the kind of furniture with the craftsmanship that is expected by the buyers simply because they have been buying products from the same producers for more than 10 years and on going. The manufacturers seems to meet the demand of their clients. The source of raw materials does not seem to be a problem for the manufacturer and there seems to be a good [...]

Solo Design in Mind is about uniquely furniture which designed and manufactured by the designers and producers in Solo region. Exploring the design, the most predominate characteristic is the lack of frivolous decoration for the sake of adornment. Form is indeed function. With this in mind, there are many avenues of design to follow all of which lead to an honest expression of purpose and a statement of ideal. Design plays an essential role in the advancement of the furniture industry, particularly so in the Indonesia as well as Solo Region furniture industry. As the importance of design grows ever more significant, it is imperative that furniture manufacturers elevate their production status to that of a design-oriented one. The realisation on the premium reward and competitive advantage that original creations can command has encouraged an awareness towards the importance of design in furniture manufacturing. With the increasingly competitive global market, furniture producers in Solo Region need to be innovative to stay in the competition. To support the furniture producers in Solo region in order to face the global competition in the furniture industry, GTZ Regional Economic Development (RED) Program in co-operation with the regional branch of the Indonesian furniture and [...]

Solo is a region locally known as “Soloraya”, is conveniently located in the heart of Central Java, one of four provinces on Java, Indonesia’s most populated island. It consists of the municipality of Solo and the six districts of Boyolali, Sukoharjo, Karanganyar, Wonogiri, Sragen, and Klaten. The region covers a land area of 5,700 km2 and is inhabited by 6 million people. In 2004, the regional GDP of Soloraya amounted to IDR 29.000.000 million (3,3 billion USD) and the annual per capita income to IDR 35.000.000. The relatively high purchasing power combined with the high population density and low production costs makes the Solo region an attractive centre of economic activity. The three most important sectors namely manufacturing, agriculture and trade, restaurants & hotels contribute almost equally to the RDGP with 25%, 24% and 20% respectively. Within manufacturing especially the textile and furniture sector showed a high level of dynamism which is seen in the high number of start-ups. Solo region comprises a workforce of 3,001,963.00 about 49.16% of the total working population. The contribution of sectors to RGDP is evenly spread, the agriculture sector shows the biggest absorption capacity with 39% of total workforce, followed by hotel, trade & [...]