Karim Zarka explains a point at the media briefing of Infdex 2011.Picture: Sherill Babu
The International Furniture and Design Exhibition and Awards (Infdex 2011) will be held at the Doha Exhibition Center between October 5 and 8. Speaking at a briefing, Qatar Expo chief executive officer Karim Zarkasaid the exhibition would be managed by Qatar Expo Event Management along with Messe Frankfurt, one of the largest global exhibition management groups, for the second year running.
“Owing to the remarkable success of the exhibition last year, we are partnering with the German firm for another time to ensure an even better and larger exhibition than the previous year,” Zarka said.
The organisers claimed that already 50% of the space at the venue has been sold out with 60% of it going to exhibitors from Saudi Arabia, UAE, Bahrain, Egypt and Morocco.
Turkish and Italian participants have together booked more than 450 square metres of space, he pointed out. 
The Qatar Expo CEO pointed out that all economic sectors in the country are recording substantial growth and this would be reflected in the increased participation of companies in the Infdex 2011.
Zarka recalled that more than 12,000 visitors thronged Infdex last year, and compared to the previous year there was a 15% increase in turnout.
Like last year, this year’s exhibition will feature four awards, namely the ‘best innovative designed stand’, ‘best environmental (green) stand’, ‘’best use of booth/stand space’, and ‘best young designer of Infdex 2011’.
The competitions are open to all school and university students.