News Conference on Mebel’2008, the 20th International Exhibition for Furniture, Fittings and Upholstery
On 20 November 2008 Expocentre held a news conference dedicated to Mebel’2008, the 20th International Exhibition for Furniture, Fittings and Upholstery. Scheduled for 24-28 November 2008, this large-scale furniture industry event runs at Expocentre Fairgrounds and the Manezh Central Exhibition Hall.
Opening the news conference in Congress Centre, Expocentre Fairgrounds, Mr Anatoly Sobolev, Expocentre’s Deputy Director General pointed out that Mebel was a most significant trade show recognized both in this country and abroad. The support for the Exhibition from the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade can prove of great relevance of the event for the development of Russia’s furniture industry. Mebel proudly carries the logo of UFI – the Global Association of the Exhibition Industry, and the logo of RUEF – the Russian Union of Exhibitions and Fairs that serve as labels of quality and approval.
Mebel has long since grown beyond the size of a standard-type trade show. Today it is a large-scale event that comprises of three furniture exhibitions. These include Mebel, the INTERIOR SHOW International Furniture Salon and ZOW’2008, the International Exhibition of Components and Accessories for the Furniture Industry. The Mebel Exhibition offered a comprehensive programme of related events that include the 3rd Moscow International Furniture Industry Congress (MIFIC), conferences, seminars, workshops, round-tables, contests and other activities.
2008 sees the 20th anniversary of the Mebel Exhibition showing high results, with 1,200 companies from 36 countries participating. 11 countries have arranged national displays. To emphasize, Mebel’2008 takes up the whole of Expocentre Fairgrounds. The total floor area of the exhibition including the display at Manezh reaches 100,000 sqm gross.
Mr Alexey Mityukov, General Director of Centromebel ZAO, has assessed Mebel as Russia’s most prestigious industrial exhibition that displays the latest developments, leading-edge products, best industrial practices and innovative solutions. The Exhibition accurately reflects the domestic furniture market needs, and gives a good indication of consumer market development trends.
At the news conference Mr Timur Irtuganov, General Director of Centrlesexpo OAO said that over the past two decades Mebel had evolved to be Russia’s Number One furniture exhibition project. In the competitive environment of the domestic exhibition services market Mebel kept on growing in scale and expanding the range of its thematic sections. The format of the trade show had been changing. Arranged thematically, the display would be broken down into salons. In particular, the Interior Glass’2008 and Office World’2008 Salons would be launched this year.
The Mebel Exhibition has been developing with Russia’s furniture industry. Mr Eugeniy Chernetsky, President of the Russian Association Workers of the Furniture Industry and Trade ‘Furniture-Makers of Russia’ highlighted some of the furniture industry performance results. He pointed out that the furniture industry was a most rapidly developing sector with production output increasing by 16% every six months. The total value of furniture products manufactured in Russia in 2007 was 75 billion rubles, exceeding that of 2006 by 20%. In the first half of 2008 the figure reached 46 billion rubles. In 2007 the value of exports from the Russian furniture sector totaled 364 million dollars, exceeding that of 2006 by 27.7%. Domestic furniture products worth 174 million dollars were exported during the first six months of 2008. Also Mr Chernetsky emphasized that the Mebel Exhibition had become an event structuring the domestic furniture market. Focused efforts by Expocentre and Russian furniture-makers had made it a world-known exhibition brand.
The largest national display at Mebel is traditionally arranged by Italy. Ms Milena Del Grosso, Deputy Director of the ICE Moscow Office, pointed out that the Mebel Exhibition had been one of the key trade shows for Italian furniture-makers to take part in to expand their business in Russia. In 2008 over 300 companies from Italy would showcase their products. Half of the Italian participating companies were well known in Russia, while the remaining ones were newcomers to the Russian market. The best furniture products by Italian manufacturers and designers would be displayed both at Expocentre Fairgrounds and the Manezh Central Exhibition Halls.
Mebel’2008 will be accompanied by a series of contests, including the Russian Cabriole Show and Contest for the National Award in the field of industrial design of furniture. The event is organized by Expocentre, the Association of Furniture and Woodworking Enterprises of Russia, the Russian Union of Designers, and the Sectoral Design and Technical Council on Furniture. Mr Yuri Sidorov, the Council Chairman, said the contest was successfully developing. While its first edition attracted 40 participants, the previous event included as many as 340 contending enterprises. The upcoming contest would be run under seven nomination categories, the top-liner being an award for the best design solution. Clearly, the Russian Cabriole would allow revealing the best achievements boasted by the domestic furniture industry, thereby making a contribution to the advancement of Russian culture.
It is the second time SURVEY Marketing + Consulting GmbH & Co.KG (Germany) and the Restec Exhibition Company, with assistance from Expocentre, are holding ZOW, the International Exhibition of Components and Accessories for the Furniture Industry, concurrently with Mebel. Mr Serguey Trofimov, Restec President, underlined the importance of co-locating the leading furniture industry exhibitions. The two trade shows would be accompanied by a series of related events. In particular, the 3rd MIFIC edition would cover topical issues relating to challenges and the furniture industry development prospects.
To add, Ms Marianna Gnezdilova, Director of the Interior Show project held at Manezh by Expocentre and Eidos Communications, gave an overview of the 2008 edition that had expanded significantly by bringing together 74 participating companies to showcase products by over 100 notable brands. The Interior Show’2008 programme of events would include workshops and master classes by world-known architects and designers, tours of the exhibition, the Russian Design Contest, a Danish Design Presentation, the Italian Design Day, the Day of Family and other events.
Mebel’2008 starts on 24 November with the opening ceremony scheduled for noontime in the Gallery linking Pavilions 2 and 8, Expocentre Fairgrounds.
Exhibition site