TEI 2023, Opportunities for the Furniture and Crafts Industry to Expand the Market

TANGGERANG: The Trade Expo Indonesia (TEI) exhibition at the Indonesian Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD Tangerang on 18-22 October 2023, is a multi-product exhibition event owned by Indonesia, or more precisely, Indonesian sourcing.

On this occasion, the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, officially opened the TEI exhibition.

General Chair of the Indonesian Furniture and Crafts Industry Association (HIMKI), Abdul Sobur, said that related to this, HIMKI as a furniture and crafts association, is a strategic industry that has furniture and crafts products to introduce throughout the world. This is a good symbiosis.

HIMKI was present at the TEI exhibition in Hall 3 A No. 23-24. The HIMKI Lounge booth was very busy being visited by buyers from various countries who wanted to look for furniture and craft products, and stakeholders from government circles were also present, in this case the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry, fellow organizations and others.

"Through this TEI exhibition we are introducing HIMKI as an organization that has members in the furniture and crafts sector which will exhibit in March and September 2024 which will be attended by thousands of buyers and stakeholders. "For this reason, we have to build communication and cooperation with them and we invite them to attend IFEX," said Sobur in a written statement in Jakarta, Wednesday (18/10).

HIMKI's participation is nothing new. Previously, HIMKI also displayed its best products from eight companies that are members of the HIMKI Pavilion, such as from PT. ERLANGGA B.N.H. (rattan furniture), PT. RATTAN ONE (rattan furniture), PT. INDOEXIM INTERNATIONAL (wooden furniture), CV. DEBOUGH INDONESIA (wooden furniture), PT. DECORUS (wooden furniture), PT. GLOBAL KRIYA NUSANTARA (furniture & craft), PT. Multidimensional and FATCRAFT (craft). Outside the HIMKI Pavilion, there are 12 companies, including PT. Home Fashion, PT. Belladonna, Solo Rattan, and others.

The TEI exhibition is organized by the Ministry of Trade in collaboration with EO PT. Debindo. This exhibition is divided into two media channels, namely physically located at the Indonesian Convention Exhibition (ICE) BSD City Tangerang building, starting from 18-22 October 2023, and another through an online channel which will take place from 18 October-18 December 2023.

This year's theme is "Sustainable Trade for Global Economic Resilience" or "Sustainable Trade for Global Economic Recovery" which is highly correlated with current world conditions. Referring to official information, during the 2022 TEI implementation, the transaction value obtained reached US$15.83 billion or more than IDR 248.5 trillion, where the five largest buyers came from China, India, Japan, Egypt and the Philippines.

This potential for buyers from abroad has encouraged the Indonesian Furniture and Crafts Industry Association (HIMKI) to be directly involved in the exhibition. HIMKI's participation in this exhibition is also in accordance with the requirements for export-oriented participants. On the other hand, HIMKI members are dominated by exporters, who are accustomed to supplying foreign market needs.

According to Sobur, another reason for participation is that the furniture and crafts industry is currently targeting emerging markets or outside the main markets which previously came from Europe and the United States. The decline in demand trends in these two regions has resulted in a correction in the value of exports, thereby encouraging efforts to shift market niches that were previously not maximized. One of these market niches is India, with very rapid growth.

"India will continue to grow exponentially over the next decade along with the expansion of infrastructure and connecting large cities as well as various government programs that encourage the construction of new residential areas and the increasing number of office areas," he said.

In 2022, continued Sobur, the Indian furniture market will touch U$23.12 billion and is expected to reach U$37.72 billion by the end of 2026 with CAGR growth of 13.37% from 2020-2026. India is the fourth largest furniture consuming country and the 14th largest furniture market in the world. Another is that Africa has so far not been maximized and is starting to become part of market penetration.

Not just India, other Asian regions, such as China, have the potential to be penetrated. Although we know that China is the world's leading furniture producer. However, in terms of characteristics, their products are more mass product oriented. On the other hand, furniture and craft products, including home décor from Indonesia for export, focus more on craftsmanship or exclusive designs.

The African market, such as Egypt and other countries, is also still a potential market to explore. Meanwhile, the ASEAN market, including the Philippines, is the next emerging market that needs to be looked at seriously. Moreover, with the existence of AFTA or the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement which supports the trade climate in the ASEAN region to become increasingly profitable, due to the reduction in tariffs on trade goods and taxes for countries in Southeast Asia.

Referring to the definition, emerging market, Sobur explained, is a term to describe the economic conditions of countries that are developing and starting to enter the global market as they develop. It was Antoine W Van Agtmarl from the International Finance Corporation World Bank who introduced this term for the first time. Emerging markets are usually termed Emerging Market Economy (EME), which are developing countries where capita income is low but moving towards the middle class. The number of countries that fall into this category reaches 80% of the total countries in the world. As a result, this strategy to target emerging markets is the right strategy, in order to overcome market decline due to the uncertainty of previous traditional markets, namely Europe and the United States. Market conditions in these two regions are currently being corrected quite significantly. This reason is a strong basis for HIMKI's participation in the 2023 Trade Expo Indonesia exhibition.