Chinese furniture manufacturers interested in joint ventures in Pakistan

Furniture manufacturers from Guangzhou also known as Canton, most populous city of the province of Guangdong in southern China, have shown interest in establishing ‘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.

Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Chief Executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq in a statement on Thursday said as Pakistan and China are moving towards greater economic cooperation, a high level of PFC delegation was 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 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 said the country's business community was not only targeting to step up exports to China but was 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.