Pakistan Furniture Council (PFC) expressing his solidarity with furniture retailers for their loss worth millions of rupees due to the burning of their shops to ashes on Ferozpur Road demanded the government to pay compensation for the losses due to the fire mishap.
Chief Executive Mian Kashif Ashfaq in a statement on Tuesday regretted that furniture sector in Pakistan is already neglected by the relevant authorities and under this distress situation, when furniture retailers face hardships for running their business, the loss due to the fire mishap could compel them to shutdown their business. Therefore, he asked the concerned authorities to pay compensation to furniture retailers to drag them back from the quagmire of the crisis.
He said the local furniture sector attached great importance to the national economy and could make a substantial contribution of billions of dollars in exports annually. He said the furniture industry prospered during last decades without any support from the government. However, the industry is still facing problems due to its un-organized structure incurring costs due to inefficiency that can be reduced by bringing the industry to one location.
Mian Kashif also urged the government to provide fiscal support for skills training and machinery upgrading to increase export competitiveness of the furniture sector. He also demanded the government to give industrial status to furniture sector besides patronizing to exploit the potential at its maximal level.
He also said to make furniture goods more competitive at the international level the government should revise its taxes and duties on this industry. Furniture testing facilities should be set up to guarantee quality exports that would boost the confidence of international buyers. But most importantly, the government needs to give this sector a most favoured industry status.
Resultantly, the cost to consumers will fall, thereby stoking demand. This will lead to more demand which will enhance this industrial base, and potentially enhance furniture exports further," he concluded.