Lankan furniture and wood-based product exports on the rise
Sri Lanka’s furniture and wood based product exports are rising due to growing potential in this business, Wood-Based Industrialists Association (WBIA) President Lakshman Wanniatchi said.
He noted that Sri Lanka has good softwood and hardwood timber, particularly teak and mahogany, while its craftsmen come from families with experience in woodcraft for generations.
There is great demand for Sri Lankan furniture in foreign countries and the country should explore this opportunity to earn much needed foreign exchange, he added.
Potential markets for Sri Lanka’s furniture and wood-based product are Mexico, UK, EU, USA, Germany, the UAE, Australia, the Maldives, India, Thailand and China.
The country should explore the Indian market taking advantage of the free trade agreement between the two countries
He said that with global markets opening up, Sri Lanka also needed to look at Forest Stewardship Council certified timber as Sri Lanka’s forests were protected and yet exploited.
The Forestry Stewardship Certificate (FSC) is essential in exporting wooden products to the Western markets, he revealed.
In Sri Lanka, rubber wood is the principal type of timber in the furniture and wood industry.
The global demand for rubber wood furniture is so huge that even if the entire production from Sri Lanka is exported, that would still be a very insignificant quantity, Mr. Wanniatchi said.
WBIA will conduct an awareness seminar for the benefit of furniture and wood based product manufacturers at the main auditorium of the Sri Lanka Export Development Board on June 5 with the presence of several line Ministry Secretaries, Board Chairmen and Heads of several institutions.
The wood sector definitely needs to get together and address their issues at a suitable forum and this would be the ideal opportunity and the need of it was felt for a very long time, Mr. Wanniatchi said.
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