Dubai: Italian interior and design companies are in Dubai for the four-day Italian Luxury Interiors exhibition, which started on Monday, at Madinat Jumeirah.
Organised by the Italian Trade Commission, the event brings 34 small and medium-sized companies, showcasing a range of furniture, lighting and household items. Among the brands present are Claudia Barbari, Unica Living and Maroso.
The participating companies are looking to the UAE to find a new avenue of growth. In Italy,companies are increasing production and exports to foreign markets against a backdrop of a shrinking economy.
“Export is a solution to the internal economic crisis,” Ferdinando Fiore, Italian trade commissioner, told Gulf News.
Fiore said that the exhibition, which is in its third edition, is a platform for Italian and local companies to meet and establish business relations and enhance Italian exports to the UAE. “The Middle East in general, and the UAE in particular, is very receptive to luxury products,” he said.
Italian exports to the UAE stood at £2.9 billion (Dh14.26 billion) for the first half of the year, with a 40 per cent growth in furniture exports, according to Fiore. He expects that exports for the full year to reach £6 billion.
Fiore said that the construction sector’s growth has given Italian interior and design companies business opportunities. Companies could do fit-out work for new towers and hotels entering the market.
Maria Lamberti D’Elia of furniture manufacturer Lamberti Décor, said she is participating at the show to “establish connections with retailers or distributors [in Dubai].”
“Dubai is one of the main architectural design centres in the world,” she said.
Meanwhile, Angelo Tedesco, partner and sales manager at Unica Living, said the local market “appreciates” Italian products.
He said that there is demand for modern and not just traditional Italian designs in Dubai.
