AMMAN -- More than 20 Italian companies, grouped under the Italian Trade Commission in Amman, will be taking part in the upcoming International Hospitality Forum 2005 (IHF) with displays of the latest products and services the industry offers.
The Italian companies are the latest participants to come on board the bustling trading grounds of the two-day IHF, to kick off Sept. 20.
The event's organisers said the Italian companies will be showcasing a diverse range of foodservice equipment and products related to the hospitality, restaurant and catering establishments.
They include refrigeration, hotel and restaurant technologies, furniture, tableware, professional costumes, linen, maintenance and packaging equipment, food products, beverages as well as hospitality universities and schools.
Italy is currently the Kingdom's fifth largest supplier of products and second largest to the European Union following Germany.
Its commercial trade relations with Jordan have been steadily improving since the Italian Trade Commission opened an office in the country in 1998.
According to the IHF, Italian exports to Jordan reached 322 million euros in 2004, while Italy's imports from Jordan reached 20 million euros.
One third of its exports includes machinery for the agricultural, plastic and marble industries, as well as packing and packaging equipment.
Other exports represent chemicals and pharmaceutical products, building materials, electrical equipment, jewelry and foodstuffs.
Italy's products will however be competing with other leading local, regional and international factories and companies providing the hospitality sector with essential products and services for its daily operations.
Countries featured on the 5th annual IHF list this year include Jordan, Australia, the United States, Lebanon, South Africa, Germany, Switzerland and Turkey.
A number of British firms through the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and the Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA) will be taking part, while the US Department of Commerce has also booked a much larger space than last year's to promote American-made fabrics and carpets this year.
Co-organisers of the IHF, Hospitality Services in Lebanon and Events Unlimited in Jordan, have already shifted the IHF's regular location at Zara Expo to the Amman International Exhibition Hall in Marj Al Hamam to accommodate the growing base of participants.
Aside from the trade activity among hotels, restaurants, bakeries, caf?s, supermarkets, hospitals and other related establishments, the IHF will once again be featuring its popular range of culinary, table setting and bartenders' competitions.
Around 70 leading Jordanian chefs are expected to showcase their culinary craftsmanship in 11 cooking and pastry competitions slated at the IHF programme this year.
It will also include a table-setting competition under the theme "Sea Breeze" and Jordan's Second Bartenders' Competition.
A new feature at IHF 2005 is the "Window Fashions" contest where interior designers and architects will have to create sample windows for restaurants and caf?s, with all the needed window, wall coverings and paints.
By Dalya Dajani
© Jordan Times 2005
