RIYADH, 11 December — The export of French furniture into the Kingdom stood at $100 million this year, representing an increase of 1.6 percent over the previous year.
There was also a perceptible shift in the buying habits, with modern furniture carving out a greater share of the market than classical furniture — a trend attributed to the changing taste of Western-educated youths.
Patrick Renaud, director general of C.O.S.P. and organizer of the Paris International Furniture Show 2002 in Paris from Jan. 10-14, and Djamel Bouteldja, commercial attaché at the French Embassy, and Jean Sarhan, managing director of Promoservices, Dubai, jointly released this information at a press conference here.
Renaud said the growing preference for modern furniture as opposed to classical furniture was in line with the international trend, which shows that modern furniture accounts for 62 percent of the total furniture market at the global level.
He said the organizers of the event are also offering consultancy services to help out furniture dealers angling for joint ventures. Similar consultancy contracts in the past provided a shot in the arm to the Egyptian market, he observed.
As many as 1,500 exhibitors from 40-45 countries will be participating in the exhibition, which will focus on modern and classical furniture as well as a whole range of other products. The exhibition spreads over 180,000 square meters and will highlight modern office furniture and different aspects of interior decoration.
France has been described as one of the world’s leading furniture manufacturers with an export turnover of $80 billion.
Referring to their strategy for boosting French furniture exports to the Kingdom, Djamel said they would target the market for school furniture, since this year’s budget allocates SR54.3 billion for education that also includes construction of 369 new schools and colleges.
“Our embassy is also planning to conduct a survey of the Saudi furniture market, which is currently dominated by the US, Italy, Spain and Germany,” he pointed out.
Giving a breakdown of the French furniture market in the Kingdom, Sarhan said some of the major customers include owners of government or commercial projects, besides hotels and furnished villas.
“The potential for cooperation between the two countries is enormous, as Saudi Arabia is a major market for French furniture and other products,” he added.
Asked about Saudi participation in the Paris show, he said there were 88 visitors from the Kingdom last year.
He hoped that they would have at least the same level of participation next year in view of the reluctance of Saudis to travel to the West in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 tragedy. Besides the Kingdom, other Middle Eastern visitors were from Egypt, Lebanon and the UAE.
