HCM City hosts furniture-handicrafts expo

Over 300 woodwork and handicraft businesses from both in and outside of the country are displaying their products at the International Furniture and Handicrafts Fair (EXPO 2010) which opened in Ho Chi Minh City on October 6.

The event, jointly held by HCM City’s Department of Industry and Trade and the Trade Promotion Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, is to boost exports of domestic wooden and handicraft products.

With 700 stands, the five-day fair will bring domestic woodwork and handicraft businesses together, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, who have little opportunity to take part in overseas exhibitions, with their international partners.

As part of the event, an online expo will be set up to help businesses promote their trademarks by posting their information and products, saving transaction times and costs.

So far, over 800 companies have registered 7,000 products on the online expo, an increase of 21 percent in the number of businesses and 40 percent in products compared with 2009.

In addition, there will be seminars for Vietnamese businesses and importers held by Turkey and Japan .

Over the past year, the International Furniture and Handicrafts Fair has attracted a large number of participants, helping to raise the industry’s export turnover from 590 million USD in 2001 to 2 billion USD in 2005 and 3 billion USD in 2009. This year’s figure is expected to reach almost 4.5 billion USD.

Tags: EXPO 2010, International Furniture and Handicrafts Fair