Antique carpets worth thousands of dinars are among items from around the world that went on sale in Bahrain yesterday.

The 26th annual Autumn Fair features more than 750 exhibitors from 21 countries and will run until January 29, said a report in the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

It was opened yesterday (January 21) at the Bahrain International Exhibition and Convention Centre (BIECC) by Industry and Commerce Ministry Under-Secretary Nader Almoayyed.

“We have a variety of carpets which we have brought in from across Iran,” Eftekhari Carpet owner Mostafa Eftekhari told the GDN.

“Some are natural silk, some are silk and wool, others are pure wool.

“There are pieces from Isfahani, Tabreez and Fars.

“Our most expensive piece this year is a 100-year-old carpet that was handmade in Mashaad and is made of wool.

“It's incredibly intricate work that includes drawings of goblets, swords and lines of poetry.

Impressive

“It costs BD15,000 ($39,562).”

Turkish Ambassador Hatun Demirer also attended the opening and said she was impressed with the Turkish pavilion.

“This expo is perfect because it brings all Bahrainis to the exhibition hall,” she said.

“There's a liveliness here and companies come from Turkey every year.

“This year we've had an increase in the number of stalls and we hope that it keeps going up.

“We're proud of them and we want to see a lot more Turkish products in Bahrain and vice-versa.”

Al Hawaj managing director Jawad Al Hawaj told the GDN that the fair had improved over the past quarter of a century.

“It has been great for the country's economy and has been instrumental in positive economic changes,” he said.

“It's great because it's open to small and medium business as well as larger companies.

“We see the competition and try to have new things, sales and give people the chance to find different products here.

“Over 2014, we had approximately a 10 per cent improvement in our figures so we hope for that to go up this year.”

Antiques Corner owner Kotb Mokhetar is selling intricate brass chandeliers.

“Our work is all handmade in Egypt and is made of brass,” he said.

“Our most expensive piece is a large chandelier with a lot of detail and costs BD600.

“It took four people two weeks to finish it because of the large amounts of engraving.

“I’ve been taking part in the expo every year since 2004 and it's something I always look forward to.

“Because it only happens once a year here, people are always excited when it comes and turn up.

“In other countries, the market is over-saturated so people don't turn up in the same numbers.

“Every year I sell out my entire stock before I leave.”

Ghaidaa owner Maher Halol told the GDN his Syrian products were made with unique recipes.

“We have different types of cheese, cheese and laban mixes, a variety of olives, olive oil, different pickled vegetables and jams,” he said.

“We also have pomegranate syrup and for the first time we also have grape syrup.

“When mixed with tahini, grape syrup makes a traditional Syrian dish that is very popular.

“We also do different flavours of cheese, including those with olive tapenades, mint and zaatar.”

Nine countries have their own pavilions including China, Egypt, Kuwait, Turkey, Syria, the UAE, Pakistan, Yemen and Thailand.

There are also participants from Bangladesh, India, Lebanon, Malaysia, Oman, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Tunisia and Turkey. - TradeArabia News Service