Furniture and furnishing sector recovering

The country’s furniture and furnishings sector is expected to recover at least two more years should the present global economic activity continue to improve.

The Chamber of Furniture Industries of the Philippines (CFIP) stressed that companies are expected to bounce back at least to their 2006 to 2007 levels of production.

Those that stopped operations in 2006-2009 will have to be convinced that it is worthwhile to re-open. The fence sitters have to be excited enough to get moving, said CFIP.

CFIP exporters have posted gains in the third quarter of 2009, especially in the United States and some of the European countries.

Apart from these countries, industry players have also increased presence in the Gulf Region particularly in Abu Dhabi, Qatar and Kingdom Saudi Arabia.

“There is a marked shift in attitude on certain markets from traditional competitors to potential buyers. These are the Asian markets, notably China, India and Thailand. There is also renewed interest in studying and developing our presence in Japan, Korea and Macau,” CFIP said.

Russia, Scandinavia and Brazil are also good markets for the country’s furniture and furnishings sector, she added.

CFIP stressed the need for the country to continue implementing aggressive marketing strategies to penetrate more markets especially as competition grows stiffer.

The industry has to fine-tune its mapping of new markets by studying the reports from experts, intensify on the ground presence through outbound and inbound business matching and trade fair participation and expand buyer database and promotions of Manila FAME, Manila Now and CebuX.

To better serve foreign buyers, CFIP cited the need for serious planning and implementation of programs for design and product development, capacity building, materials development, marketing skills and product standardization. –EDU LOPEZ, Manila Bulletin