ISLAMABAD: A high-level delegation of the United States furniture manufacturers comprising Bilal Saglam and Gizem Cigdem of Ashley Furniture Industries will reach Pakistan tomorrow on a five-day visit to explore mutual investment in the furniture industry.
The delegation will be received by Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) chief Mian Kashif Ashfaq and PFC Secretary Hamid Mahmood, said a statement. Later, a grandeur reception will be hosted by the PFC in the honour of the visiting delegation where business-to-business meetings with Pak furniture manufacturers will be held.
The agenda of these meetings will be to discuss the extension of possible mutual investment, exchanging of expertise, latest technology and techniques of innovation being used in furniture industry. Ashley furniture is one of the largest industries across the globe.
A speedy market approach will be adopted by extending cooperation with foreign furniture manufacturers and this visit is a step taken towards this direction. They will ink a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ChenOne.
“As the demand for faster deliveries of the product is becoming more frequent in today’s market, this expansion allows our company to have additional space to service our customer base in a timelier fashion,” it was said.
The purpose of this visit is to study in-depth assessment of local furniture industry, technologies, key trends, market drivers, challenges, standardization, regulatory landscape, deployment models, operator case studies, opportunities, future roadmap, value chain, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. Globally, Ashley supplies furniture to more than 6,000 retail partners in 123 countries, delivering more than 30 million pieces every year.
PFC chief Kashif Ashfaq said that furniture with calligraphic engraving had great demand in local and international markets, which seemed to be a dominant trend in Pakistan.
He said that Pakistan’s craftsmen should focus on working in this particular area to earn the much-needed foreign exchange. In this regard, he appreciated the PFC role in bringing the latest technical know-how in Pakistan to develop local furniture industry for manufacturing quality products to become competitive in the international market.
He further said that the council was planning a strategy to enhance exports and this sector could touch more than $850 million export target by the year-end if training centres are opened in the country for imparting modern skills.
