Buyer Delegation Boost for the İZFURNEX Furniture Fair
A “Buyer Delegation” organization was held at the İZFURNEX Furniture Fair, where the Turkish furniture industry showcases its production and export strength to the world, with the participation of 15 importers from 6 countries.
A total of 15 foreign buyer companies from Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Morocco, Poland, Kosovo, and the United Arab Emirates took part in the “Buyer Delegation” organization arranged by the Aegean Furniture, Paper and Forest Products Exporters’ Association with the support of the Ministry of Trade.
Ali Fuat Gürle, Chairman of the Aegean Furniture, Paper and Forest Products Exporters’ Association, stated that 40 Turkish companies participated in the “Buyer Delegation.” He noted that, within the scope of the program, they scheduled an average of 5 to 10 meetings per company and that more than 200 bilateral business meetings were held in total.
We aim to increase our exports to these 6 countries to 1 billion dollars
Sharing information on export volumes to the countries participating in the “Buyer Delegation,” Gürle said: “Azerbaijan’s furniture imports are at the level of 260 million dollars. Türkiye exports 105.6 million dollars to this market and holds a 41% share of Azerbaijan’s imports. We export 30 million dollars’ worth of furniture to Bosnia and Herzegovina. While Poland’s furniture imports amount to approximately 5.4 billion dollars, Türkiye’s exports to that country stand at 57.4 million dollars. We exported 99 million dollars’ worth of furniture products to Morocco, one of our strong export markets, and became its second largest supplier. Türkiye’s furniture exports to the United Arab Emirates are at the level of 91.2 million dollars. Although the Kosovo market is smaller in scale, thanks to Türkiye’s strong trade relations in the region and geographical proximity, it stands out as one of the accessible markets with growth potential for the Turkish furniture industry. Today, we have sown important seeds for increasing our exports to these 6 countries from 390 million dollars to 1 billion dollars in the medium term.”
Güngör: “The war changed our plans”
Hikmet Güngör, Vice Chairman of the Aegean Furniture, Paper and Forest Products Exporters’ Association, shared that the war between the United States, Israel, and Iran caused changes in their plans during the “Buyer Delegation” process: “The buyer delegation program had initially been planned with broader participation from India, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and Romania. However, the war in our region and the resulting logistical, security, and travel restrictions directly affected participation from some countries. We revised the program and created a more limited but qualified participant profile. Under the current circumstances, we organized the buyer delegation in a sustainable and efficient structure with the participation of 15 foreign companies from 6 countries. Although this situation partially affected the scale of the organization, we expect the business meetings to be highly productive thanks to targeted matchmaking.”