Malaysian International Furniture Fair Wraps up Biggest Show on High Note

Furniture World News Desk on 4/3/2018

The Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) concluded its biggest show on March 11 after four successful days with exhibitors meeting more buyers from a wide base of countries and signing orders right until the end.

Overwhelming praise was heaped on the spacious new Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC) which co-hosted the annual event for the first time with Putra World Trade Centre.

Buyers were greeted with more products and new collections than ever before from the record number of 625 exhibitors from 13 countries. The trade show organised by UBM Malaysia is Southeast Asia’s largest furniture sourcing hub and 25% bigger this year grossing100,000 sqm.

With an established reputation for robust trading, MIFF 2018 gained extra pace from new exhibitors and buyers making up a third of the overall presence. The larger exhibition space created room for the launch of more new initiatives to drive design quality and business opportunities, such as designRena, a curated floor for 80 top Malaysian companies and MIFF Timber Mart.

Not to be outdone, young designers at the Millennials@Design gallery too reported successful sales and great interest from buyers. The gallery is the latest effort by MIFF to support creative talent with many of the young designers coming from the MIFF Furniture Design Competition started in 2010.

Ms Karen Goi, MIFF General Manager, comments: “This year has again reinforced MIFF’s global standing as a very happening and productive sourcing hub. It proves

we are effective in drawing new exhibitors, buyers and more products to a much larger show. Generally, exhibitors are happy, they are securing extra business from markets which they have not encountered before such from Africa and South America. Many have expressed they want bigger booths in MITEC and PWTC to launch more products and scale up their presentations next year. We will be look into more customer-centric and design driven programmes to benefit them for an even better show in 2019, which is the 25th anniversary of MIFF.”

The fast pace of business comes as no surprise to Helmut Merkel, Editor-in-Chief of German trade publication Mobelmarkt, a regular visitor since 2000: “MIFF has remained a flawless business fair. Business was and always in the forefront. There is hardly any other trade show that negotiates so much and discusses models and prices as they do at MIFF.”

MIFF 2018 was a positive for Randy Fiser, Chief Executive Office of the American Society of Interior Designers, who was visiting for the first time, “we had a great experience here, and we were able to expose American designers to what Malaysia has to offer. It was great to see products similar to those offered in the U.S here but they were more interesting to us because the designs had a Malaysian influence which was not found in North America.”

MIFF 2019 will run from Mar 8-11 again at the same venues under the theme “Design Connects People” that was unveiled this year.

MIFF experience:

Buyers
“It is my first time here and I find it very nice. There’s a huge global presence in the fair and I can clearly see what is going on around the world and in which country, like trends and new technology used in furniture. I came for sofas, beds and dining sets and there’s really a huge variety. Coming here has exposed me to so many things and I will surely be back next year.” – Sarang Waghmerer, Wishful Homes, India

“This is my first time in Malaysia and I like it very much. Although both venues are good, I like MITEC a lot, and I think it’s beautiful. My trip to Malaysia was fruitful and

I felt my time in MIFF was well spent. I viewed some very nice furniture and saw new models of products. The furniture and other products are really creative and of good quality.” – Tarek Abasy, Wood Line Furniture, Egypt

“We think MITEC is a good fair and we have seen a lot of new stuff. We also like the nice new MITEC building – it is very high and modern. Before coming to MITEC, we have already seen the exhibition booths in PWTC. We have come to MITEC to buy bedroom and living room furniture for our company in England.” – Louise O’Brien & Michael Harrison, United Kingdom.

Exhibitors
“We have been exhibiting in MIFF for over 20 years. MIFF is really an excellent platform to present our products to an international audience as the fair is very established and well-known in the industry worldwide. You don’t have to fly all over the world to promote your products, instead the whole world comes to you. All these years, MIFF is the main source of our business and sales. By exhibiting here for four days, I would get business for the following 10 months. Overall, I think MIFF did a great job every year and we would definitely continue to exhibit in MIFF in the future.” – Sam Goh, Marketing Manager, Synway Furniture Industries, Malaysia

“Our company has been exhibiting at MIFF for more than 10 years. The fair has brought us a lot of customers. I can see that the number of visitors has increased compared to last year and that’s really good. This year, we are happy to have our booth at MITEC as this place is ideal for exhibitions. Everything is very clear and it is easy for visitors to navigate.” – Florence Tan Mei Xian, Senior Manager, Florence Bed,
Malaysia

“We have been exhibiting at MIFF since 2005. This year, our booth is in MITEC which is new, spacious and well-planned venue. In fact, many of our visitors and customers commented on how wonderful the place is, and they are very happy with the products displayed. Exhibiting in MIFF has increased our exposure a lot. We not only met our regular customers here, we also got new customers from continents we don’t usually encounter, like Southern and Central America as well as Africa.” – Eric Au, Managing Director, Ascent Furniture International, Malaysia

More about MIFF: MIFF is Southeast Asia’s most global and largest industry trade show of its kind serving 20,000 furniture professionals from 140 countries across the world. Held annually from March 8-11, the show offers a comprehensive selection of all kinds of home and commercial furniture including Malaysia’s renowned top quality wood furniture and the most extensive office solutions in the region. Since its inception in 1995, the show is an UFI-approved event by The Global Association for Exhibition Industry. MIFF is organised by UBM Malaysia, a member of UBM Asia group of companies owned by UBM plc, the largest pure-play B2B Events organiser in the world. For more information, visit www.miff.com.my