TIFF 2014, BIFF&BIL 2014 kick off in Thailand

BANGKOK, March 12 (TNA) - Thailand International Furniture Fair (TIFF) 2014 and the Bangkok International Fashion Fair and Bangkok International Leather Fair (BIFF&Bil) 2014 now welcome international visitors at Muang Thong Thani on the outskirts of Bangkok from March 12-16. Permanent Secretary for Commerce Srirat Rastapana said, when opening the fairs on Wednesday, that domestic political problems should not have any negative impact on the five-day events, in which more than 1,000 buyers from other member countries of the Association Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asia and Europe participate for business talks. Besides, a number of local buyers, including those in hotel, condominium and hospital businesses, are also visiting the fair. Srirat acknowledged that other countries view Thailand as a world excellent producer of furniture for its designs and quality and, consequently, the value of Thai furniture exports kept growing last year. According to the senior official, TIFF 2014 is expected to create trade, worth about 550 million baht, while the value of Thai furniture exports is expected to grow by 5 per cent year-on-year this year, standing at about 1.3 billion US dollars, paving the way for Thailand to be a regional hub for investment, trade and manufacturing of furniture products in ASEAN. Meanwhile, the BIFF&BIL 2014, considered the biggest fair of its kind in ASEAN, is expected to draw about 800 Thai and foreign buyers to have their business talks and as many as 30,000 parties to discuss businesses, with up to about 1.2 billion baht anticipated to be generated. The senior official also projected that the value of Thai leather and fashion exports should grow by 5 per cent year-on-year this year, to about 9.8 billion US dollars. The senior Thai official expressed her hope that the businesses should further grow after the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) by 2015. The senior official also assessed that domestic political problems would not affect her ministry's 5 per cent target of Thai export growth this year.(TNA)