Furniture Fair opened in Belgrade - Timber industry exports up 6 percent

Serbian Minister of Foreign and Domestic Trade and Telecommunications Rasim Ljajic said Monday that the timber industry exported EUR 100 million worth of goods in H1 2013, up 6 percent from the same period last year.

Production in that industry grew 11.8 percent in the first six months of this year, Ljajic said at the opening ceremony of the International Fair of Furniture, Equipment and Interior Decorations at the Belgrade Fair.

According to Ljajic, turnover in the timber industry has dropped between 20 and 40 percent since the start of the economic crisis. That industry employed 30,000 workers in 2000, whereas today it employs only 13,000.

The International Fair of Furniture, Equipment and Interior Decorations will last until Sunday, November 17th. It has brought together over 400 local and foreign exhibitors from 15 countries.