President Jokowi Opens Indonesia's Flagship Furniture Exhibition, IFEX

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Mar 13, 2015, 04:41 ET

HONG KONG, March 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Indonesia's largest ever furniture tradeshow, the Indonesia International Furniture Expo, IFEX 2015, opened yesterday at the Jakarta International Expo fairground. The exhibition completely fills all halls of the fairground as well as several large temporary halls that have been built to accommodate demand to participate from exhibitors.

President of Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo, speaking with Mr. Sonoeto, Chairman of Indonesia Furniture Association, AMKRI, at Indonesia Furniture Expo 2015, IFEX 2015

The exhibition was opened by the President of the Republic of Indonesia, Mr. Joko Widodo, reflecting the importance of the furniture industry and furniture exports to the Indonesian economy. It is particularly fitting that Jokowi, as the President is popularly called, should open the fair as his background is in the furniture business.

Speaking at the Opening Ceremony of IFEX 2015, President Jokowi said, "I encourage the industry and government to work together to achieve the national goal of US$5 billion of furniture exports within the next four years."

More than 470 companies are exhibiting at the four-day exhibition with a wide range of contemporary and traditional furniture and home furnishing products. The focus is on wooden furniture and rattan furniture products, with the majority of exhibitors from Indonesia. There are also several exhibiting companies from overseas, notably from Taiwan, Malaysia and mainland China. A total of 8,000 trade buyers are expected to attend the exhibition, with a large number coming from overseas.

IFEX is organised by PT Dyandra UBM International, a joint venture between Dyandra, Indonesia's leading exhibition organiser, and UBM Asia, the largest commercial organiser of tradeshows in Asia. The exhibition is hosted by the Indonesia Furniture Association, AMKRI.

Mr. Ernst K. Remboen, President Director of PT Dyandra UBM International, commented, "the furniture industry in Indonesia is enjoying very robust growth on the back of strong exports and surging domestic demand. The nation has abundant supplies of sustainable raw materials such as wood, rattan, bamboo and natural textiles, as well as a highly skilled labour force and extensive manufacturing capacity. The size of IFEX is expanding each year, and I expect that it will soon become one of the key events in the global calendar of furniture exhibitions."

Mr. Christopher Eve, Director of PT Dyandra UBM International, added, "IFEX is a highly focused business-to-business exhibition, where high quality manufacturers showcase their latest products lines to the international buyer community. In addition to supplying high quality and competitive products for the mass market, Indonesia's great strength is in offering individualistic, handcrafted furniture using natural materials such as hardwood and rattan and traditional designs. It is not just the traditional furniture, but also the mass produced furniture products offered by Indonesian producers are of excellent quality. This is where I think Indonesia excels."

Mr. Remboen agreed, adding that unlike other countries, Indonesia is different because the country has all the raw materials and master craftsmanship in one place. "This enables Indonesia to offer high quality products at highly competitive prices, something that countries such as Singapore or Malaysia cannot compete with," he said.

With regard to the expected value of transactions at this year's fair, Mr. Abdul Sobur, Secretary General of AMKRI, commented, "around US$200 million of on-the-spot transactions were reported at the 2014 event. With a higher number of exhibitors and an increase in confirmed prospective international buyers attending, I am confident that we will see an even higher value of on-the-spot transaction this year."

For press enquiries, please contact:
Jennifer Law, Director of Corporate Marketing & Communications
UBM Asia
Tel: +852-2516-1691
Fax: +852-3749-7342
Email: [email protected]

Christy Chan, Corporate Marketing & Communications Executive
UBM Asia
Tel: +852-2516-1679
Fax: +852-3749-7342
Email: [email protected]

Notes to Editors

1. About UBM Asia (www.ubmasia.com)

Owned by UBM plc listed on the London Stock Exchange, UBM Asia is the largest trade show organiser in Asia and the largest commercial organiser in China, India and Malaysia. Established with its headquarters in Hong Kong and subsidiary companies across Asia and in the US, UBM Asia has a strong global presence in 24 major cities with 30 offices and 1,300 staff.

With a track record spanning over 30 years, UBM Asia operates in 20 market sectors with 230 dynamic face-to-face exhibitions and high-level professional conferences, 23 targeted trade publications, 20 round-the-clock online products for over 1,000,000 quality exhibitors, visitors, conference delegates, advertisers and subscribers from all over the world. We provide a one-stop diversified global service for high-value business matching, quality market news and online trading networks.

UBM Asia has extensive office networks in China, Southeast Asia and India, three of the world's fastest growing B2B events markets. UBM China has 11 offices in the major cities in mainland China, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Guzhen and Shenzhen, where we organise 90 exhibitions and conferences. In ASEAN, UBM Asia operates from its offices in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines with over 40 events in this region. UBM India teams in Mumbai, New Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai organise 40 exhibitions and conferences every year across the country.

2. About UBM plc (www.ubm.com)

UBM plc is a leading global events-led marketing services and communications company. We help businesses do business, bringing the world's buyers and sellers together at events, online and in print. Our 5,000 staff in more than 20 countries are organised into specialist teams which serve commercial and professional communities, helping them to do business and their markets to work effectively and efficiently.

For more information, go to www.ubm.com; for UBM corporate news, follow us on Twitter at @UBM_plc and go to http://media.ubm.com/social for more UBM social media options.

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