PESHAWAR, Feb 13: The Furniture Dealers and Manufacturers Association (FDMA) has urged the provincial government to set up a furniture city and announce a special grant so that furniture making could become a profitable enterprise in the province.

The association’s patron-in-chief Din Muhammad and president Syed Ijaz Ali Shah Bukhari told a press conference on Monday that the furniture industry in the NWFP did not have the same facilities that other provinces were enjoying.

They appealed to the provincial authorities to make arrangements to convert this cottage industry into a profit earner both for the government and local dealers and manufacturers. They pointed out that the Punjab government, in this connection, had announced a special grant of Rs10 million for the development of the furniture industry in Chiniot City.

Similarly, they said, a training centre equipped with modern facilities and machinery should be established in the province for the development of furniture cottage industry. Financial institutions like banks, EPB and SME banks should provide soft and easy loans to the furniture industry and the Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry should extend help for the flourishing of cottage industry. Peshawar has 500 furniture manufacturing units and about 100 show rooms where 5,000 workers are employed, according to the FDMA.

The dealers’ association appealed to NWFP Chief Minister Akram Khan Durrani to spare some time and call on representative delegations of dealers to discuss these matters.