Azad Invites Enjoys to Kashmir Handicraft Expo

Kashmir’s famed handicrafts were on display when envoys of several countries visited the Kashmir handicraft expo in the capital at the invitation of Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

Exquisite carpets, beautiful shawls and several other items are on display at the expo at Connaught Place here and the exhibition will be on till the end of February.

Azad went around with various envoys — including those from Egypt, Kuwait and Jordan — who admired the handicrafts and carpets on display.

Later, talking to reporters, Azad said his government was trying its best to take exports of handicrafts to Rs 1,000 crore during this fiscal, Rs 300 crore more than the figure for the last financial year.

He said the handicraft industry too was a victim of militancy along with tourism, and many Kashmiris earned a livelihood by exporting these items to European markets.

“We are trying to eye the Middle East and CIS markets and that was the purpose of calling these envoys and showing them the exquisite work of Kashmir,” Azad said.

Some of the envoys were left spellbound by the intricate work on shawls and wood carvings of walnut wood.

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China Exporters Suffer as Currency Rises

Dependent on exports to the United States, the Hebei Lihua Hat Co. saw its profits wiped out as China‘s currency rose steadily against the dollar over the past year.

Yet even those efforts might be inadequate, said Wang Zhenhao, the business manager for Hebei Lihua, located in Baoding, a city southwest of Beijing.

Chinese companies that supply U.S. retailers with billions of dollars worth of toys, furniture and other goods every year face a painful squeeze as the yuan rises, setting off a race to cut costs or find new products that Americans will pay more for

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Furniture Market to Reach 600m Euros

Ulster furniture manufacturer McDonagh’s, based in Portadown, is to close with the loss of 75 jobs.

Terry McDonagh, the Managing Director of the company, blamed cheap foreign imports and the rising cost of manufacturing, for the decision to close the company.

McDonagh’s was established 100 years ago and its closure will have a serious impact on the workers and their families, as well as the wider Portadown economy.

Family Furniture Maker to Close

Furniture sales on the local market will go up some 10% this year, to approximately 600 million euros, twice the growth pace reported in 2006 (5%).

The large number of residential projects to be completed this year will drive the growth of the furniture market. “The domestic and Southeast European (furniture, i.e.) retail market witnessed a fast growth pace in 2005, namely 25%. The growth pace slowed down in 2006 and became normal.

At the end of the year (2006), it most likely revolved around 5-6%. We expected a 10% annual growth pace, but the market witnessed a slowdown. We estimate an average growth of 10% in 2007,” Dan Sucu, the president and majority shareholder of Mobexpert, the top player on the domestic furniture market told ZF.

Sales of furniture on the domestic market amounted to some 560m euros in late 2006, according to estimates made by the furniture companies.

“The growth seen by the furniture market is practically in line with the general economic trend. Thus, the GDP growth stood at 4-5% in 2005, it amounted to nearly 6% last year and it will continue over the following years, according to the estimates”, said Cornel Oprisan, retail manager of IKEA Romania.

The relaunch of the furniture market will be supported, to a great extent, by the imports operated at lower prices than those levied for the Romanian-made furniture.

“The furniture production for the domestic market may rise by 7-12% over the following year. Estimates regarding the growth of furniture production are based on increasing demand coming from the home and office construction fields. Although demand for furniture on the domestic market is promising, it will be topped by imports from the EU, which will benefit from a low EUR/RON exchange rate and from prices that will be highly competitive with those levied by the domestic producers,” said Ioan Marginean, the economic manager of Silvarom, one of the significant players on the furniture market.