Exactly twelve years ago, the founding Fathers of the Furniture and Wood Products Association of Ghana (FAWAG), formerly called Ghana Furniture Products Association, conceived the idea of the Ghana International Furniture Exhibition (GIFEX) to be held every other year.  In March 1985, therefore, the first ever GIFEX took place at the Trade Fair Site in Accra.

It was a dream come true! We dove off our hats to be GIFEX dreamers.  At the appropriate time we shall honour their names.

The aims of GIFEX are clear and its objectives remain unchanged. Through GIFEX we seek to encourage and promote an integrated industry with emphasis on down stream value-added processing which would utilize relatively less resources to achieve higher returns through large scale local sales and export of value-added wood products.

GIFEX is therefore expected to expose the economic operators of the industry spanning from small to large scale companies (ie micro, small and medium scale enterprise carpenters at Anloga in Kumasi to the giants such as Mim Scanstyle) for the emerging opportunities and challenges that lie in the market place for them both as Ghanaian companies and as operators in an international business environment.

On this 12th edition of the Ghana International Furniture & Wood Working Industry Exhibition, GIFEX 2008, we have chosen the theme "100 years of Forestry in Ghana - Networking Partnerships for Sustainable Development”

We wish to salute all our numerous clients in Ghana and overseas and wish them another successful business opportunity through GIFEX 2008.

Please spread the feeling.

An assessment of GIFEX would not be conclusive if we do not consider the immense contribution it has made to the rehabilitation of the Ghana Trade Fair Center and the pioneering role it played in championing the local trade fair industry as a viable promotional tool and often times commercial activity in furtherance of private sector development.

GIFEX has come to stay! However in as much as we anticipate the stormy  years ahead, occasioned by environmental concerns and public procurement policies in the advanced economies which are heavily biased against tropical hardwoods, we are more determined than ever to nurture the steady growth of our young exhibition for the benefit of the wood processing industry in particular and the entire national economy as a whole. The world needs to know and admit that Ghana is one country which is judiciously managing its forest resources in a sustainable manner.

We wish to assure the Ghanaian public and the entire international business community that we shall not relent in our efforts to maintain the reputation that GIFEX has gained for itself and Ghana over the past decade.  Better still, it is our fervent aim to improve upon our achievements and be able to reach out to a   wider international community than we had hitherto done.

Indeed, GIFEX has been the mother of all fairs and exhibitions in this country in the last decade.  Please spread the message.

Thank you.