On the 26 March, 2009 Baltic Business Gates participated in the matchmaking event organized for furniture market firms. The event organized by Lithuanian Development Agency was attended by nearly 100 participants from 9 European countries: Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Great Britain, Austria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Netherlands. There have been held almost 700 individual meetings of the furniture and timber industry representatives willing to find suitable business partners abroad.
The staff of Baltic Business Gates presented the representatives of foreign companies with business development opportunities in Lithuania and explained the immense potential of possible collaboraton. Most of the meetings took a real success and was also fostered new contacts, which, after the exhibition are further developed.
After the meetings we identified the obstacles that hider the expansion of Lithuanian furiture and timber exporters. We are now actively working on solututions to these problems.
Although the majority of the opinions about the furniture market development in 2009 were quite pessimistic, some sectors turned out to be in good position to weather the downturn and serve as rescuers for Lithuanian furniture and timber industry representatives.