The 14th international Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow was held last week at the Crocus Expo fairgrounds in Moscow. The Salone del Mobile di Milano comes to Moscow to become the largest international event for the Russian and CIS markets in the furniture and design sector.
“Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow represents a key part of our international outreach strategy, enabling us to operate as a system not only in Italy but also overseas, and to venture into new markets that we believe are worth investing in. The companies that are prepared to take up the challenge know that being present in Moscow will bring them into contact with a specific geopolitical environment where they can meet trade visitors, advertisers, interior designers and architects who value quality,” said Claudio Luti, chairman of Salone del Mobile.
This year, the event was attended by more than 280 exhibitors, of which 239 were Italian companies, offering a wide range of products ranging from casegoods to upholstered furniture, lighting fixtures, kitchen, office, and bathroom furniture as well as textiles and interior design items. The Fair visitors had an opportunity to attend the Master Classes held by renowned Italian architects and the Work Talk moderated by a famous Russian designer.
The event supported by the ICE-Italian Trade Agency has the aim of strengthening and kindling the interest of mass media and industry professionals from Moscow, Russian regions and a number of other countries. Similarly to previous years, the Italian Trade Agency assists the Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow with numerous promotional and support activities, including a delegation of 170 industry professionals coming from 27 cities of the Russian Federation, as well as from Belarus, Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan to meet a number of manufacturers and hold more than 4,400 B2B meetings.
Italian manufacturers were supported by an extensive promotional campaign including supplements and advertising pages in key trade magazines distributed across the Russian Federation up to the Siberian Federal District. Promotion activities include publications on the most popular web-portals of Russia specializing in furniture and interior design. Apart from that, the Italian Trade Agency provides Italian companies with an updated market review covering relevant data and industry trends in Russia.
Despite the business slowdown from 2013 on, the Russian market remains a priority for Italian furniture industry companies. In 2017, the Russian economy showed signs of recovery and, according to the official data released by the Federal Customs Service of Russia, in the first six months of 2018, Italy's exports of furniture and lighting products to Russia increased by 6.6 percent.
“The consumption growth and market signals are encouraging: through its industry development strategy, the Italian Trade Agency brings to the Fair more and more buyers, architects, and designers to showcase and consequently introduce more Italian products in areas not covered before. The promotional campaign is run to ensure that Italian furniture and interior design items make their way to Russian homes and become increasingly popular,” said Pier Paolo Celeste, director of the ICE-Italian Trade Agency in Moscow.
The Salone del Mobile.Milano Moscow 2018 opened up great opportunities for Italian companies enabling them to assess the current market trends. “Russia is continuing to play an important role for Italian furniture and furnishing exporters, proving that in spite of the difficulties of the past few years, the decision to keep investing on this market was the right one. Our efforts have been wholeheartedly supported by the ICE (Italian Foreign Trade) Agency, whom we will continue to partner strongly, synergistically and strategically to boost our initiatives to promote Italy's wood furniture sector on the international scene,” said Emanuele Orsini, chairman of Federlegno Arredo Eventi.