Jan 13, 2010
MIFF at 3 different venues
KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) 2010, the leading furniture trade show in Asia, has grown so big that it will this year be held at three different venues to accommodate the growing global demand for Malaysia’s furniture.
“As the Malaysian furniture industry grows from year to year, targeted sales for MIFF 2010 is expected to surpass US$710mil, with over 20,000 visitors,” MIFF Sdn Bhd chairman and managing director Datuk Tan Chin Huat told a press conference yesterday.
MIFF 2010 will be held from March 2 to 6 at the Putra World Trade Centre, Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and Matrade Exhibition and Convention Centre.
International Trade and Industry Ministry secretary-general Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Mamat said exports rose in the first nine months of 2009 compared with the previous corresponding period: Japan by 8.9% to RM569mil, Britain by 6.1% to RM429.2mil and the Netherlands by 8.5% to RM101.3mil. In comparison, exports to traditional markets such as the United States, China, India, Australia and West Asia dropped significantly.
Malaysia continued to face stiff competition from furniture manufacturers from China, Vietnam and Indonesia, he said.
As such, Malaysia needed to differentiate its furniture in the global marketplace through improvements and innovation in quality and eco-friendly design.
Furniture manufacturer SJI Industries Sdn Bhd managing director Benny Poh told StarBiz that with increasing buyer sophistication, there was a real need for a furniture design school to teach sustainability issues like eco-friendliness and lifecycle analysis besides basic furniture making skills as manufacturers began to face a lack of suitably-skilled workforce.
He said such trade schools were common in Europe and “we should emulate them if we are to become truly world class and globally competitive.”
Mieco Chipboard Bhd MD Datuk Yong Seng Yeow, however, believed the issue was mainly external and attributed the slowdown in global demand to factors beyond Malaysia’s, control such as unfavourable forex rates and weak European and US economies.
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