Lao wood artisans won't lumber in Asean markets
Lao wood artisans won't lumber in Asean markets
Businesses in Laos producing quality wooden products are fully capable of competing with the rest of the region when the Asean Economic Community is established next year, a furniture award winner said on Wednesday.
Many furn iture companies have skilled workers and can produce high quality products to meet customers' demand. They have the capacity to gain market share in the region even with the strong rivalry of other firms from within and outside Asean member countries.
Khamthanaphone Wooden Art Co. Ltd Director Mr Valath Panyalath told Vientiane Times that his company focuses on improvements to production such as the skills of wo rkers, product design and quality of output to gain a competitive advantage.
Mr Valath's company has been awarded first prize, with a large wooden carving featuring Lao cultural icons, at the current Vientiane Furniture Fair 2014 from a field of 67 exhibitors at Lao-ITECC. He said his business has high production capacity and will be able to stay competitive on the bigger stage with other neighbouring countries in the future.
Khamthanaphone Wooden Art Co. Ltd uses waste wood such as tree roots to produce sculptures and decorative furniture for export to the large Chinese market, where consumers have strong purchasing power and there is a high demand for the company's products.
This year, the company expects to earn about US$40 million, including exports to the Chinese market, double last year's figure.
Established in 2011, the company earned about US$300,000 from selling its products in both domestic and overseas markets in the first year. In 2012, revenue increased rapidly to US$1 million and skyrocketed to US$20 million in 2013.
Mr Valath said the number of customers continues to increase year by year. He hopes receiving first prize at the fair will help raise the company's profile, stimulate sales and attract more interest from potential customers.
He is very proud of the prize awarded to his company and believes it shows the special attention paid to producing the best quality products to attract the interest of domestic and international customers. The prize will serve as encouragement for him to develop more high class products for markets in the future.
Mr Valath thanked the government sector for their support and also called upon them to help address the shortage of raw materials.
vientiane times
