On January 19, 2021, Ambassador of Ukraine O. Balanutsa hold online meeting with President of Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers (UAFM) V.Patis, Member of the Board, Head of the Cluster platform and FUBE exhibition O.Donska and UAM Executive Director V.Khraban.

The Parties discussed possible ways of cooperation for promoting the export of Ukrainian furniture to Kuwait. Ambassador O.Balanutsa shared the successful experience of holding online briefings organized by the Council of Exporters and Investors (under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Ukrainian diplomatic missions abroad for the support of Ukrainian export.

Ambassador O.Balanutsa noted that Kuwait annually imports furniture from the world for the sum of around 450 million USD (sofas, beds, chairs, tables, kitchen and office furniture, medical furniture, etc.). Furniture “Made in Ukraine” is already available at stores in Kuwait but there is a significant potential for growth in this area. In 2020, Ukrainian furniture was exported to Kuwait in the amount of 123 thousand USD, while in 2019 the export was only 40 thousand USD.

President of Ukrainian Association of Furniture Manufacturers V.Patis informed about the increase of Ukrainian furniture exports to other countries by about 14% annually since 2015. Despite Coronavirus restrictions, in 2020 furniture exports increased by 8.4%. The UAFM includes 257 furniture manufacturers which represent around 60% of the furniture industry in Ukraine and export to 116 countries.

The UAFM together with the Embassy will study the organization of B2B online meetings with potential buyers in Kuwait, as well as the distribution of invitations to Kuwaiti importers for the International Exhibition "Furniture of Ukraine Business Expo", which will take place in Ukraine offline and online on April 7-9, 2021 (https://en.fube.com.ua).