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Home > ÖSTERREICH > Geschftsveranstaltungen
THE BEST PRODUCTS FOR THE HOME ON SHOW IN HONG KONG.
Rome (Ign) - A showcase to take the quality and design of Italian houseware to the whole of Asia: from 21 to 24 April, the Convention & Exhibition Centre will host Hong Kong Houseware (www.hkhousewarefair.com), the most important show in Asia dedicated to articles for the home and domestic electrical appliances, where the last edition saw the presence of over 2300 companies from 36 countries. This is an important showcase for Italian businesses, considering that, in the last edition it was visited by around 32,000 visitors, more than half from countries other than the host country. It is above all an opportunity for promotion on the Hong Kong market, whose main suppliers are Taiwan and Japan, and where Italy holds sixth place in the league of exporting countries. Its position is however in strong and constant growth (+19%, between 2005 and 2006, for a value of $15m), thanks above all to Italian craft products, with their characteristics of uniqueness, quality and design, which have managed to win over the consumers of the Asian country, and which also this year will be present thanks to a delegation organised by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE).
Moreover, this is a sector of exceptional importance for Italy: in 2006 it generated a turnover of almost €38 billion - up 2.7% despite competition from emerging countries -, thanks to an industrial system that includes 2200 companies and provides over 413,000 jobs, and that exports almost one third of its production. Furnishing, articles for the home, crafts and furnishing accessories are sectors in which the Italian presence is strong in highly competitive markets, such as the USA, Russia, China, France and the whole of the East, in addition to emerging markets such as the Ukraine and Turkey. These are countries where Italian products penetrate both by virtue of tradition, whereby they are seen as embodying quality and style, as happens in North America, and because the interest in luxury goods leads them to prefer Italian products, as is the case in emerging countries such as in Russia and China. In the latter, the road to continued quality improvement appears increasingly successful, also due to the prices applied on local markets. In this scenario, Japan, which has come out of a period of economic slowdown, is once more beginning to represent one of the most interesting export markets, precisely because it is interested in Italian products above all at the top end of the market.
The sector of small electrical appliances has seen sustained growth in domestic demand: according to data issued by the Findomestic research centre (www.findomestic.it), the Italian market made a jump of 10% in 2006. Sales were up for kitchen scales (+29%), grills and griddles (+23%), but also for hair dryers (+26%) and kettles (+23%), and there was a record boom for coffee machines (+22.1%) and ironing systems (+18.6%). As far as regards articles for the home, Italian products are distinguished by their technology and design. Even if these are objects of everyday use, the attention that designers give to each product always keeps them a step ahead of the competition. In recent years, moreover, Italian companies have particularly concentrated on optimising space in domestic environments, creating articles to satisfy a whole range of needs which integrate perfectly with furnishings. These small innovations are translated into time savings for users, greater practical features and safety of use, and higher efficiency. Basically, they contribute to improving the quality of everyday life.
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