JEDDAH, 11 December 2003 — Handmade carpets, whose prices range up to $1 million, have been catching the attention of visitors at Saudi Arabia’s International Trade Fair ’03, which ends today.
“The million-dollar carpet is 5m x 7m that suits the reception area of a palatial villa,” Feizollah Haghighi, said on behalf of Iran’s Haghighi Carpet, which has displayed a wide range of colorful carpets. “The carpet has 29.19 million knots. Its designing took a year and 13 weavers completed the job in five years,” he said.
Established in 1890 by master craftsman Mehdi Khan Safdarzadeh Haghighi in Esfahan, Iran, the company is managed by his son Feizollah who studied the art and acquired skills from both his father and other master craftsmen.
Haghighi Carpet is among a dozen companies showcasing products at the Iranian pavilion. Other products include kitchenware, electrical and household appliances, textiles and readymade garments.
Turkey, which has a dozen exhibitors at the show, is studying the prospects of setting up joint venture facilities in the Kingdom, in addition to finding new agents and distributors, Ismail Ates, commercial attachE at the Turkish Consulate General, said.
“Our trade with Saudi Arabia marked a seven percent rise last year. Turkish exports to the Kingdom were worth $550 million and imports from the Kingdom were valued at $750 million,” he said.
“Turkey is embarking on staging a solo trade show in Jeddah from June 6-9 next year,” Ates said, adding that the country would also showcase its locally made automobiles at the silver jubilee of the annual Jeddah International Motor Show scheduled from Dec. 21-26.
Gerasimos Lygonis, the only Greek participant at the fair, said he had been showcasing his textile items at the annual trade show here for the last six years. “I’ve been so overwhelmed by the response that I’m planning to set up a local establishment.”
Greek exports to the Kingdom were $85 million in 2002, up from $71 million in 2001 and 56 million in 2000. Greek imports from the Kingdom have dropped to $850 million last year from over $1 billion in 2001 and $900 million in 2000, according to Pantelis A. Gassios, first secretary, economic and commercial affairs, at the Consulate General of Greece.
“Export of marble tiles, which peaked during the unprecedented boom across the Kingdom until the early ‘80s, has considerably dropped,” he said, adding that aluminum profiles, food products, building materials, and electrical, pharmaceutical and textile items now dominate the country’s exports.