Islamabad : The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) in collaboration with RF Events (SMC-Private) Limited, has held a 3 days “Furniture and Living Expo” starting from February 19, 2021 at Majestic Banquets,  Club Road, Islamabad from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm.

A wide variety of furniture and interior products of the region are being offered in the Expo at discounted prices to the consumers. The Expo will continue up to February 21, 2021. Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan, President, Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry inaugurated the Furniture Expo as Chief Guest.

Speaking at the occasion, Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan President ICCI said that the global furniture market was estimated at over USD 500 billion, but Pakistan’s share in it was quite nominal. He urged that the government should provide support to furniture manufacturers and exporters in organizing exhibitions in foreign countries to promote Pakistan’s exports in the international market. He said that Pakistani foreign missions should also explore the potential of Pakistani furniture products in their respective countries and share such information with chambers of commerce. He said that government help was needed to introduce high-tech machinery and establish more training centres to produce more skilled workers for the furniture industry that would accelerate the growth of this important sector.

Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan asked the federal and provincial governments to allocate land for setting up furniture cities in metropolitans of the country that would give a boost to this sector and enhance its exports. He further emphasized that the government should abolish the registration of furniture shopkeepers, showrooms and workshops in Tier-1 retailers in the next budget as the criteria defined in Sec-2, Sub-Sec-43A of Sales Tax Act 1990 should not be applicable on these businesses due to the large size of their products. He assured that ICCI would fully cooperate in resolving the key issues of furniture businesses so that they could play a more effective role in promoting exports.

Dr. Nazish Faisal, CEO of RF Events (Pvt.) Limited said that there was an urgent need to explore more markets for boosting furniture exports. She said that the government should take measures to address the key issues of the furniture industry including high utility costs, improper wood seasoning, substandard finishing, packing problems. She said that by improving designs and quality, Pakistan could achieve far better results from the furniture industry.