Says furnit­ure indust­ry is suffer­ing due to high wood prices­ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) urged the public and private sectors on Saturday to join hands for raising the country’s forest cover from 5 to 25% to meet the growing demand of wood for furniture making. Ashfaq urged the furniture industry to remain resilient by innovating and adopting technology while also diversifying export markets in order to sustain demand in the long run. He said wooden furniture, like that of Shishum wood, is quite expensive which is why Shishum’s furniture was made for selected buyers only. “People find it easy to get a four-piece bedroom-set in a range of Rs100,000 and that’s why chipboard furniture remains sought after,” he said, adding that Shesham wood furniture is still very expensive with people preferring the cheaper Russian diyar furniture over it. He said that Pakistan’s furniture industry has the potential to be a substantial one at multiple levels as it can contribute significantly to the GDP and employ numerous people with varying skills in specialist furniture.

Source: The Express Tribune December 03, 2017 05:37 UTC