Great demand for Pakistani furniture abroad: PFC Chief

A 10-member delegation of Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) will participate in Inter textile Shanghai fair starting from August 27 at Shanghai, China to showcase their products to attract foreign buyers and investors.

PFC Chief Mian Kashif Ashfaq while presiding the board of directors’ meeting on Friday, said that the fair would provide an opportunity to explore new avenues by sharing vision, expertise for formulation of future policies, economic studies, sectoral and project specific reports besides promotional efforts.

According to press release issued by PFC, Kashif said that the government was working on strengthening and improving Pakistan’s relations with China.

He said that during one-on-one meetings with their counterparts in China, they would inform Chinese investors about the philosophy and vision behind the “Naya Pakistan” slogan, which would raise hopes of hurdle free opportunities of investment in Pakistan.

“Pakistan has made progressive strides recently for improvement of ease of doing business and created a favourable environment to attract investment. Pakistan’s large population and geo-strategic location makes it an ideal investment destination,” he added.

He further apprised the meeting of the current economic position, despite imbalances in volume of trade between Pakistan and China, economic and trade relations between Pakistan and China held great potential and there was dire need for Pakistani business community to focus on improving their competitiveness in the Chinese market.

He urged the businessmen to take full advantage of concessions granted by China under the China-Pakistan Free Trade Agreement (CPFTA).

He said that the trade increased despite the fact that Pakistani businessmen used only 3.3% of the total tariff lines. He said Pakistan could only export in 253 tariff lines out of the total 7550, where average export value was $500.

He said that there was a great demand of Pakistani furniture products abroad as its designs are unique besides popularity of properly processed high quality wood for its durability.

He said exporting furniture to China could be an uphill task for Pakistani manufacturers due to the neck to neck competition in Chinese markets but still many are succeeding to tap Chinese furniture market with patience and the right partners.

Mian Kashif said despite a small branch in the furniture industry, outdoor furniture contains huge market potential and they would try to exploit this branch as outdoor furniture was in great demand due to the Chinese government’s ever increasing attention to expand public gardens in China.

PFC Chief said Pakistan has the capacity to gain its fair share in the international markets but the government needs to provide robust backing to the furniture industry, otherwise, individual efforts may not fetch the desired results.

Secretary PFC Aqal Sardar said that if Pakistan could earn foreign income of $8 million to $12 million in a year from furniture exports, a sizable spike in these figures could be seen if effectual and appropriate measures are taken by furniture manufacturers in Pakistan and vigorous support is provided by the government.

(APP)