Chinese furniture manufacturers shown keen interest for joint ventures in Pakistan

LAHORE: Furniture manufacturers from Guangzhou also known
as Canton, most populous city of the province of Guangdong in southern China, have shown interest in establishing an ‘furniture manufacturing units through joint ventures in Pakistan with focus on furniture manufacturing as well as establishing Pakistani furniture outlets in Canton to promote furniture trade between two countries.

According to a message received here from Canton on Thursday, Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Chief Executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq said as Pakistan and China are moving towards greater economic cooperation, a high level of PFC delegation is recently on a visit to participate in Canton Fair 2018 where they explored the opportunities to establish better liaison between
both the furniture industrialists to strengthen better economic ties.

He said one of the biggest furniture show held in Canton where delegations from more than 120 countries participated and exchanged their expertise with each other to explore new avenues to promote global furniture markets.
He said this is indeed a great opportunity for Pakistani furniture
producers to hold detailed meetings with foreign delegations including from South Korea, Australia, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Canada. “Among all the product categories, the contemporary furniture was much favored by the visitors,” adding he said
Pakistani furniture manufacturers are also focusing on manufacturing contemporary with innovative touch on modern lines besides showcasing traditional and handmade local furniture in international exhibition. “We want to diversify our exports and find new partners for doing business, “he added.

He said that Pakistan exports furniture products of worth $8 million to $12 million annually, but these figures do not mirror the actual potential of the industry and its capacity to produce high-quality furniture items. In this regard, he suggested local exporters to actively take part in international shows and furniture exhibitions to ostentatiously present Pakistan’s ability to produce jaw-dropping furniture items.

Mian Kashif said that Chinese technology could help upgrading the furniture sector of Pakistan and utilize its untapped capacity. He believed that Pakistan had a lot of potentials to promote itself for Chinese business community while China was a country that provided excellent business opportunities for them. He said Pakistan’s business community is not only targeting to step up exports to China but is also striving to strengthen
the partnership that will facilitate growth in trade with major partners such as the United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Austria, Portugal, France and Italy. He said that furniture with calligraphic engraving had great demand in local and international markets, which seems to be the dominant one in Pakistan, therefore Pakistani craftsmen should focus on working in this particular area to earn the much-needed foreign exchange. In this regard, he appreciated the role of PFC in bringing the latest technical know-how in Pakistan to develop the local Furniture Industry for manufacturing quality products competitive with the international market.

He also said that Pakistan can further enhance the quality of its furniture products if joint ventures are formed between the two countries and machines are provided on lease by China to furniture manufacturers in Pakistan.