Wood clusters to enhance product quality, marketing
Wood clusters to enhance product quality, marketing
Wood manufacturing clusters will help members to enhance the quality of their timber products and increase exports to international markets, according to a leading furniture maker.
President of the Mountheva Furniture Group Mr Yothin Vetsaphong made the statement to participants at a recent consultative workshop on establishing business clusters for the wood, rattan and bamboo processing industries.
The event was organised by the Industry and Handicrafts Department under the Ministry of Industry and Commerce at the Vetsaphong Skill Development and Testing Centre.
A wood manufacturing cluster was approved by the Industry and Handicrafts Department on January 27, 2017.
The establishment of the cluster is authorised by Prime Minister's Order No. 15 on the increased inspection and management of wood extraction, movement, and timber businesses by supporting skills development in the wood processing industry. This will ultimately add value to wood products and enhance timber quality in line with international standards.
In addition, it will enable local products to compete in regional and international markets especially with countries such as Japan, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Dubai, Indonesia, China, Vietnam and Thailand.
It will also increase the supply of timber products for the domestic market and reduce imports.
Mr Yothin said the purpose of the cluster was to unite the wood manufacturing capacity of factories, explore the potential of wood manufacturers, and promote the manufacturing of wood into processed products.
The main objective of the cluster is to manufacture standard wood products to meet the standards of regional and international markets and build the capacity of wood manufacturers to link with other trading partner countries.
The cluster will stress skills development to professionalise the wood processing industry and enable it to forge international links.
Furniture products from Laos are in demand in China, Japan, and Vietnam and strong interest has been shown in local furniture products by European and oth er Asean countries.
We are choosing the high standards of Japan so that we will be able to export our wood products to other markets easily when we can produce enough, Mr Yothin said.
Most importantly, we need information about the international markets we are targeting by learning from the experience of the Vetsaphong Skill Development and Testing Centre, he said.
The centre will be an information source about the wood business and marketing for all members, Mr Yothin added.
