A high level delegation of Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Saturday left for China to participate in Canton Fair 2018 and later visit Sri Lanka on the second leg of foreign tour to explore foreign markets and seek foreign investors for joint ventures in Pakistan.
Lahore, (Pakistan Point News - 28th Apr, 2018) : A high level delegation of Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) Saturday left for China to participate in Canton Fair 2018 and later visit Sri Lanka on the second leg of foreign tour to explore foreign markets and seek foreign investors for joint ventures in Pakistan. "The fair will 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," said PFC Chief Executive, Mian Kashif Ashfaq, leader of the delegation while talking to newsmen prior to his departure to China.
He further said the delegation on the second leg will also tour Sri Lanka from Shangai to hunt new vistas of foreign furniture markets to boost exports and seeking foreign investment to pump in local furniture sector to bring it at par with international standard. PFC Chief said that bilateral trade between Pakistan and China registered a ten per cent ($4.4bn) increase in the first three months of the current fiscal year as compared to the corresponding period in 2017.
He said that the trade increased despite the fact that Pakistani businessmen used only 3.3% of the total tariff lines. The delegation would have one on one direct interaction with foreign business leaders, researchers and investors in China and Sri Lanka, he said adding the tour would enable investors to identify potential organizations to partner and developing successful regional economic strategies and support regionally vital businesses.
He was of the view that economic and trade relations between Pakistan and China possess great potential and there was dire need for Pakistani business community to focus on improving their competitiveness in the global markets. 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 can 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 is in great demand due to the Chinese government's ever increasing attention to expand public gardens in China. He informed that interaction with business organisations from the public and private sectors of China would open vistas of opportunities for delegates that ultimately boost cross-border business and trade collaboration.
Answering about the furniture scope in Sri Lanka, he said Pakistan can easily double exports to Sri Lanka in a year's time by effectively using the duty concessions under the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and if the steps would be taken timely in right direction, he expected Pakistan's exports to Sri Lanka to be $500 million from the current $267 million within a year. Mian Kashif said furniture trade with Sri Lanka is at its lowest level and there is a dire need to explore furniture markets in this part of the region. He said "we should focus on intra-regional trade so that this South Asia can foster to meet the modern challenges." He said Sri Lankan furniture producers are targeting middle East and European markets but Pakistani furniture industry is also equally enjoying a superb potential to compete.
