The 15th installment of the CNR IMOB International Istanbul Furniture Fair, the world's third-biggest exhibition in its field, led to the signing of $1.2 billion in export contracts.

The fair, which was held at CNR EXPO Yeşilköy on Jan. 22-27, witnessed the establishment of business connections totaling $1.5 billion, CNR said in a statement yesterday. The six-day fair welcomed over 1,000 companies, as well as 122,516 visitors including 38,816 foreign guests.

CNR Holding Chairwoman Ceyda Erem said due to the intensity experienced in IMOB, 500 companies stayed out of the event, adding this year, they raised the number of foreign buyers by 67 percent to 38,816. She said they welcomed foreign visitors from 131 countries including Iran, Libya, Israel, Iraq, Palestine, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Azerbaijan, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Kosovo, Morocco, Germany, Jordan, Iceland, Panama, Monaco, Puerto Rico and Macedonia.

"A total of 122,516 furniture buyers visited the exhibition. We also made a great contribution to the sector's $5 billion export target," she continued.

Pointing to the Global Market Intelligence System implemented with the support of CNR Holding's International Business Development Department, Erem said with this system, furniture buyers from all over the world were invited to the exhibition and brought together with the Turkish furniture manufacturers based on their needs.

Erem also highlighted that thanks to this system, they reached buyers who purchased furniture from different countries and had not yet entered the Turkish market, recalling the event took place on an area of 150,000 square meters.

Meanwhile, Turkey's furniture industry, with its very high locality ratio, exceeded the export targets for 2018, hitting $3.14 billion with a 14 percent year-on-year increase, Ahmet Güleç, the chairman of the Federation of Furniture Associations (MOSFED), said recently. The same figure stood at $2.76 billion in 2017.

The sector carries out exports to some 177 countries. According to Güleç, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Israel, Germany, Qatar, the U.K., the United Arab Emirates, France, and the U.S. were the leading destinations for Turkish furniture. The industry targets to reach $3.75 billion in exports this year.