The countdown has begun for the largest global meeting of the natural stone sector, MARBLE İZMİR – International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair. The sector will come together at Fuar İzmir between April 9-12, 2025. The fair, which will also feature special events for its 30th year, will host participants and visitors from all over the world.
One of the world's largest fairs in the natural stone sector, MARBLE İZMİR - International Natural Stone and Technologies Fair will open its doors for the 9th time at Fuar İzmir on April 12-30. The fair will continue to be a hope for the sector this year with the trade volume it provides. All natural stone companies will be present in the closed halls of Fuar İzmir at MARBLE İZMİR. A large part of Hall C and the entirety of Hall D have been allocated to machinery and technology companies. The block marble area will also be the exhibition area for hundreds of blocks of natural stones in different colors and varieties, as it was last year.
MARBLE IZMIR's 30-year journey
MARBLE İZMİR, whose foundations were laid in 1989 at Kültürpark as a university-industry collaboration for the first time within the İzmir International Fair under the name of “İzmir Marble Days 89”, was organized as a fair for the first time in 1995. Marble İzmir Fair, which started its journey in 1995 at Kültürpark, which has made great contributions to İzmir fair organization, is proud of its 30-year growth. Türkiye’s largest specialized fair, MARBLE İZMİR, which started its adventure with 47 participants and a total of 4 visitors, has shifted up a gear with the construction of Fuar İzmir in the past 719 years. MARBLE İZMİR, which has become an internationally respected fair over the years and one of the world’s leading natural stone fairs, hosts more than a thousand participants and tens of thousands of professional visitors from more than 30 countries today. The fair not only promotes and markets the natural stone of our country, which has one-third of the world's natural stone reserves, but also showcases the latest technological developments and innovations in the sector. Different areas of use and new trends of natural stone can be seen at the fair, ranging from mines to final products.
Special events for the 30th anniversary
MARBLE IZMIR Fair, which will be crowned with different events for its 30th year, will also bring together the names that lead the natural stone sector, universities, architects, designers and industrialists. The fair will discuss the latest technological developments in the sector, sustainable mining practices and digitalization processes. The events to be organized under the theme of “Authority in Marble” will include sector panels, B2B meetings, design exhibitions and various seminars.
Procurement delegations will be organized
While cooperation is being made with commercial attachés in the United States, Middle East, Asia and Europe for MARBLE İZMİR, participants and visitors are expected from all over the world. In addition, the Ministry of Trade will organize export-oriented supports and purchasing delegation programs conducted jointly with unions in the sector. Within the scope of these programs, hundreds of foreign professional buyers from China, India, Egypt, Russia, United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Iraq, which are determined as target countries, will be hosted. B2B meeting programs to be organized during the fair will enable participating companies to meet with buyers quickly and effectively. Foreign visitor applications from every continent in the world, from the USA to China, were also received through the web page.
MARBLE abundance will be experienced in Izmir
MARBLE İZMİR; In addition to contributing to the sector and its sub-sectors, exports and employment, as in previous years, it will also have a positive impact on the city and country economy in many areas from tourism to accommodation, from transportation to food and beverage. Local and foreign participants and visitors who will come to the city for the fair will make İzmir feel the abundance of MARBLE.
7th International Different Natural Stone Design Competition
Within the scope of MARBLE İZMİR, the 7th International Different Natural Stone Design Competition is also taking place this year. The theme of this competition, which aims to bring young designers to the sector, was determined as furniture. A total of 12 applications were made from 66 universities in 892 countries. The 25 selected designs will go into production, thus bringing innovative approaches to furniture made of natural stone to life. The designers who win will be awarded a prize of 600 thousand TL.
Türkiye's role in natural stone exports
In MARBLE İZMİR; in line with the decision taken upon the demands from the sector representatives, only natural stone and natural stone products as well as machinery and technologies will continue to be exhibited. MARBLE İZMİR, which has also been a member of the International Fairs Association (UFI) since 1998, is of great importance in terms of Turkish natural stone opening up to the world, increasing its market share and reaching new markets. While Türkiye's natural stone exports were 77 million dollars in the first year of MARBLE İZMİR, with the contribution of the fair over the years, exports exceeded 1,88 billion dollars last year. The sector fair, the fair also grew the sector and MARBLE İZMİR became the lifeblood of natural stone exports over the years. In addition to the advantage of Türkiye having one third of the world's reserves in the natural stone sector, with the effect of its richness in color and pattern, natural stone exports have contributed approximately 10 billion dollars to the Turkish economy in the last 20 years. The fair opens the door to new commercial collaborations by bringing together buyers from Europe and the Middle East, especially from China, India and the USA, which are the countries to which Türkiye exports the most natural stone. China maintains its first place in block marble exports in particular. Last year, block natural stone exports worth 63,7 million 388 thousand dollars were made to China, constituting 463 percent of our country's total block stone exports.
