Malaysian Furniture Firms Put Up Good Show At Colonge International Furniture Fair

By Manik Mehta COLOGNE, Jan 18 (Bernama) -- Nineteen Malaysian furniture firms are making a strong sales pitch at the ongoing International Furniture Fair of Cologne. Five companies are participating under the aegis of the Kuala Lumpur-based Malaysian Furniture Promotion Council while the rest are on their own, says Lee Mei Li, the Malaysian representative of KoelnMesse, the fair organiser. The council launched its "Malaysia Pride" global quality mark at the fair represented by the five Malaysian brand recipients showcasing the “best of Malaysian-made furniture". A council spokesman said the "Malaysia Pride" initiative was a branding conceived for the Malaysian furniture industry, designed to bring together furniture players representing “Malaysia’s finest” who meet the set criteria in offering excellent furniture products. The five recipients featured under the "Malaysia Pride" pavilion are Hin Lim Furniture Manufacturers Sdn Bhd, SJY Furniture (M) Sdn Bhd, S.K. Furniture Sdn Bhd, Regent Furniture Export Consortium and Tawei Furniture Sdn Bhd. Mohd Sabri Rahman, the Frankfurt-based senior Matrade commissioner, said Malaysia’s furniture global exports between January and November last year totalled RM5.620 billion, down 5.9 per cent from 2010. (US$1=RM3.12) He said Malaysia’s furniture exports to Germany touched RM65.20 million in the same period, a 30.5 per cent decline compared to the earlier year. "Global economic uncertainties and the prolonged Euro debt crisis are the prime reasons for the decline in exports to Germany whose consumers react by belt-tightening efforts whenever there is any economic difficulty,” Sabri told Bernama. The senior Malaysian trade commissioner, who visited the fair, exchanged views with Malaysian exhibitors on ways and means to help Malaysian exporters increase their exports. -- BERNAMA Malaysia