CHINIOT, Oct 14: The first wood seasoning centre of Punjab has become functional to help manufacturers produce quality wooden furniture.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony here on Thursday on the Faisalabad Road, Punjab Industries Minister Mohammad Ajmal Cheema said environment was made conducive to investment and industrialization.

The minister said the government was also setting up a Textile City on 3,500 acres of land in Faisalabad. He said the government wanted to bring the furniture of Chiniot at international market. For this purpose, it would set up a woodcraft city in Chiniot for the training of small manufacturers, he said.

Mr Cheema said the Export Promotion Bureau had hired a centre in USA to display products of local exporters. Orders from abroad would be conveyed without any fee, he said.

Furniture Association President Malik Khalil Ahmad said the industry was facing a number of problems. High input cost, low supply of Shesham wood and high electricity charges resulted in limited production, he said.

Mr Ahmad demanded establishment of a small industrial estate in the city, training facilities for workers and display centres for furniture abroad. The minister said he would try to honour the demands, adding that the government was also conducting research on Shesham disease.

According to APP, the total volume of global furniture market is estimated at $20.59 billion. The major destinations of wooden furniture are US (44 per cent), Germany (10 per cent), France (8 per cent), and Japan (6 per cent).

While Italy was the leading furniture exporting country with a share of 15 per cent followed by China with 14 per cent, Germany and Canada 10 per cent, Denmark seven per cent. Pakistan's annual exports of wooden furniture, according to a Smeda study, have been around US$10 million.