The Bangkok International Gift Fair and Bangkok International Houseware Fair (BIG&BIH) continues to be ideal sourcing platform for gifts, home decorative items and housewares as the latest show drew its curtain on April 22th with nearly 5 percents increase in number of trade visitors, while more than 60 percents of its exhibitors have gained good feedback.

The 25^th BIG&BIH, held on April 17-22, 2008 by the Department of Export Promotion (DEP), the Ministry of Commerce was participated by 672 exhibitors from Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Vietnam, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Taiwan, China, Ghana and Italy with a total of 1,842 booths showcasing fine-designed lifestyle products ranging from gifts, premiums, home decorative items, home textiles, handicrafts, houseware products, toys, stationery and office supplies and many more.

According to a report from DEP, the BIG&BIH-April 2008 attracted a total of 17,762 trade visitors, which is 4.67 percents increased from the same show last year. Among them were 4,130 overseas visitors from 110 countries worldwide. The top ten overseas visiting countries to this summer fair are Japan, U.S.A., Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, U.K., Australia, Korea and Germany respectively.

Mr. Laurent Ortelli, Sourcing Manager of Cora Hypermarket – a famous chain store in France with more than 100 outlets across the country who first visited BIG&BIH, said that he was truly impressed with the variety and quality of products displayed at this year’s summer fair.

“I can see big business opportunity between us and Thai companies. My only concern is the price as Thai products are more expensive comparing to products from other countries,” he added. 

Mr. Majid Konjkav, Managing Director of K.A.M.S. Co., Ltd. – an import firm of household items to Iran and Dubai who visited BIG&BIH for the third time, revealed that he has already bought three containers of housewares from this summer fair.

“We have suppliers here, but we also like to look for new suppliers exhibiting in this fair. Apart from Thailand, we also go to fairs in China. But BIG&BIH is so much better. The quality of products here is better. As for the price, it is not a problem for us. We always buy big quantity of products and we always get discount,” said Mr. Konjkav.

The 25^th BIG&BIH was another event that produced a business robust for its exhibitors as more than 60 percents of the exhibitors reported of having good feedbacks from this summer show, most of which are in the process of trade negotiation with buyers met a the fair, while nearly 30 percents of them have already received on-spot order.

Ms. Parichat Thammachua, represented Fun Export Co., Ltd. – a producer of papier-mâché products under the brand ‘Niloc’, and an exhibitor of this year’s summer fair said that her company has been exporting its products to customers in Europe and Australia, many of them were met at BIG&BIH.  

“We have been participating in the fair for four years. It is an ideal place where we can meet with new customers. There might not be on-spot order, but we always receive a lot of potential contacts. Many of them become our repeated buyers,” she added.

Another successful exhibitor Mr. Theerayut Kasemwatthana, Sales Manager of Mania Leather and Accessories Co., Ltd. – a local producer of fashion accessories who participated in BIG&BIH for three years said the 25^th edition brought him new business prospect.

“In the past years, we had usually met with small buyers and received small orders. But, we’ve got bigger orders from big buyers this year,” said Mr. Theerayut.

Ms. Ni Made Setyawati, SSS Silver’s Sales and Marketing Manager, another exhibitor from Bali, also expressed her success derived from participating in this year’s fair, saying that BIG&BIH brought her company better feedback than exhibiting in any fair in her own country.

The top five product categories in BIG fair that drew most interest and gained highest order were gifts and premiums, home decorative items, household products, bags and artificial flowers respectively. While BIH’s top five products with highest order were glassware, tableware, plastics, ceramics and kitchenware respectively.

BIG&BIH are held twice annually in April and October by the Department of Export Promotion, the Ministry of Commerce, with its purpose to create business and export opportunities for producers and exporters of gifts, premiums, home decorative items, housewares, toys, stationery and office supplies.

The next edition of BIG&BIH will be held on October 14-19, 2008 at the Challenger Hall, IMPACT, Muang Thong Thani. The first four days (October 14-17) are reserved for trade negotiations only, while October 18-19 are opened for the public. For more information, please visit www.bigandbih.com