Tuesday, April 16, 2024 Marble İzmir-International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair, which will be organized for the 29th time this year, will open its doors to its visitors with a ceremony to be held tomorrow at Fuar İzmir. Marble İzmir, the gateway of Turkish natural stone to the world, brings the sector together on April 17-20, 2024. İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay stated that they are proud to host Marble İzmir for the 29th time and said, “We will grow our fair a little more every year and shape the future of the natural stone industry from İzmir.” 
Hosted by İzmir Metropolitan Municipality and organized by İZFAŞ, Marble İzmir International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair, the largest global meeting of the natural stone industry, opens its doors for the 29th time with a ceremony to be held on April 17, 2024 at 11:00 am. At this year's fair, organized under the main sponsorship of Çemar Traverten&Mermer all natural stone companies took place in the closed halls of Fuar İzmir in Gaziemir, while most of Hall C and all of Hall D were allocated to machinery and technology companies. The block marble area will be the exhibition area for nearly 1,500 blocks of natural stone in various colors and varieties, just like last year. This year at Marble İzmir, only natural stone and natural stone products, machinery and technologies will be exhibited in line with the decision taken in response to requests from industry representatives. 
“We will give direction from İzmir”
İzmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Dr. Cemil Tugay stated that they are proud to host Marble İzmir, which is the lifeblood of natural stone exports and the gateway of the sector to the world, for the 29th time and said, “It is of great importance for the sector that Turkish natural stone opens up to the world and increases its market share with Marble İzmir.  For 29 years, the sector has been growing the fair and the fair has been growing the sector. Marble İzmir, which started in 1995 with 47 local exhibitors and hosted 4,719 people, hosted 79,153 visitors last year, including 9,566 foreign visitors from 148 countries with 1,15 exhibitors. This year, the fair is expected to welcome nearly 100,000 visitors from Türkiye and around the world. We will grow our fair a little more every year and shape the future of the natural stone industry from İzmir.”
Trading volume with purchasing delegations will increase
Marble İzmir is cooperating with commercial attaché offices in the USA, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, while exhibitors and visitors are expected from all over the world. Three different buyer delegation programs will be organized jointly with the Aegean Mineral Exporters' Association, Istanbul Mineral and Metals Exporters' Associations and Western Mediterranean Exporters' Association with the support of the Ministry of Trade for exports. Within the scope of these programs, industry professionals from the United Kingdom, South Korea, France, Italy, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Azerbaijan will be hosted. A total of 186 foreign buyers are participating in the B2B program run by İZFAŞ. During the fair, exhibitors will be able to meet with customers quickly and effectively. One thousand 912 foreign visitor applications from 59 countries from every continent of the world, from Australia to Italy, from the USA to China, have been registered on the website.
The list of participants is extensive
Natural stone and products, mining consumables, factory and workshop consumables, mining machinery, construction machinery and heavy equipment, factory and workshop machinery, environmental protection, recycling and recovery systems, sectoral organizations, IT and software companies, transportation and logistics services, financing and lending services, public and official institutions, associations, unions and NGOs, media institutions and organizations will take part in Marble İzmir. The visitor profile of the fair includes dealers and wholesalers of natural stone processing machinery and technologies, natural stone practitioners, construction and contracting companies, project management and consultancy companies, building inspection companies, architectural offices, construction markets, building materials wholesalers, retailers and distributors, construction machinery dealers and wholesalers, mining and natural stone companies from all over the world.  
“Different” designs come to life with Marble İzmir
Within the scope of the fair, a natural stone design competition is also organized. Marble İzmir also brings young designers together with the innovative companies of the sector with the 6th International Natural Stone Design Competition. The competition aims to increase natural stone exports with high value-added products supported by design and architecture and to reveal the innovative face of Turkish natural stone in the market.
This year, young designer candidates from 20 countries participated in the competition with a total of 1,265 projects using natural stone. As a result of the jury evaluation of the designers, the 34 finalist projects will be realized by the innovative companies of the sector and the award winners will be announced at the 29th Marble İzmir Fair.   
Marble İzmir will be a blessing in the city
In addition to contributing to the sector and its subsidiary sectors, exports and employment, Marble İzmir will also have a positive impact on the city and national economy in many areas from tourism to accommodation, transportation to food and beverage sector, as in previous years. Local and foreign exhibitors and visitors who will come to the city for the fair will make İzmir feel the abundance of Marble. 
Reached 420 million dollars
While natural stone exports were 77 million dollars when Marble İzmir was first organized, Türkiye's natural stone exports exceeded 2 billion dollars with the contribution of the fair over the years. In the first three months of this year, Türkiye's natural stone exports reached 420 million dollars, an increase compared to the same period last year.