Over Bt300m expected to change hands at BIG+BIH 2012

BANGKOK, October 17 (TNA) - The 34th Bangkok International Gift and Bangkok International Houseware (BIG+BIH fair 2012) kicked off on Tuesday, with over 300 million baht expected to change hands from over 100,000 visitors during the event, held at the Bangkok International Trade & Exhibition Centre (BITEC) from October 16-21. The fair is opened for business deals from October 16-19 and for retail on October 20-21. There are about 1,600 booths at the event, in which gifts and lifestyle products of over 600 leading manufacturers of Thailand, other member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other countries worldwide are on display. Opening the fair, Deputy Commerce Minister Poom Sarapol said that Thailand has continually earned from the growing business of lifestyle products, with major markets including the United States, Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. According to the deputy commerce minister, although exports of Thai lifestyle products had dropped by 3 per cent in the first eight months of this year, its growth should resume in the last quarter, the annual festive season, and the business should grow by 4-5 per cent on average in 2012, worth about 100 billion baht, as their exports to China and other ASEAN member countries are expanding again, which should make up for a drop in their exports to other markets facing economic slump. Besides, three associations of gift producers in Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have agreed to set up the ASEAN Gifts Federation to strengthen their cooperation and boost their bargaining power against parties in other regions; while the remaining member states of the 10-nation ASEAN bloc are expected to join the federation by 2013. (TNA)