Mr James Koh, President of the Singapore Furniture Industries Council

Your Excellencies,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to join all of you this morning for the opening of the International Furniture Fair Singapore and the 20th ASEAN Furniture Show.

We in Singapore warmly welcome the exhibitors and visitors who come from all over the world including our ASEAN neighbours, China, Hong Kong, Turkey, the US and, for the first time, Portugal.

The participation at this year’s fair has increased by 22% over last year in terms of space taken up which is very good considering the current uncertain economic environment. I congratulate the Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) and the ASEAN Furniture Industries Council (AFIC) for the wonderful effort they put in.

Since it started in 1981, this furniture fair has showcased to the world the best of Southeast Asian designs in furniture. Although the fair still retains a strong Southeast Asian component with about half of the exhibitors coming from ASEAN, the show has grown into a premier international event with participation from 29 countries. Over the next 5 days, 608 exhibitors will show off their products to local and international buyers.

By working together, SFIC and AFIC have created a significant marketplace for the global furniture industry. About US$200m worth of orders are likely to be made here during the fair and about US$1.7b worth of follow-on orders are expected. I hope other industry associations in Singapore will learn from the success of this fair and create new economic opportunities for us in ASEAN.

The furniture business requires high-quality raw material, good design, reliable production and strong distribution. In Southeast Asia, we have some of the best raw material in the world. A high tradition of design and craftsmanship exists throughout ASEAN. We also have a strong manufacturing base and well-developed distribution and logistics. With the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement (AFTA), trade barriers across the region have come down. Furniture manufacturers can now design their furniture in one country in ASEAN, manufacture in another and market from a third. For example, companies in Singapore like KODA and the Cellini Design Centre carry out their R&D in Singapore, manufacture in Indonesia, Malaysia or Vietnam, and sell to the ASEAN region and beyond. There are many such examples. An estimated 65% of all Singapore furniture manufacturers have overseas operations in countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Myanmar and China.

The Asian furniture market is growing by leaps and bounds with the rapid growth of the middle classes. Not satisfied with traditional products, Asian consumers are demanding better quality, newer design and greater variety. Manufacturers, distributors, design houses, procurement agents and retailers are now paying much more attention to this changing demand pattern. In order to shorten their time-to-market and keep overall costs low, many of these companies need centres in Asia that can help them manage their production, fulfilment and retail operations. For foreign companies that are new to this growing Asian market, managing and organising this value chain can be difficult because of different local conditions.

We invite furniture associations all over the world to use Singapore for the location of their regional support centres. These regional support centres provide furniture association members with business support facilities including office premises, market information, business contacts and other services. Foreign companies using Singapore as a hub can also make use of a wide range of programmes provided by International Enterprise Singapore and other government agencies to enhance their regional operations. For example, Network China and Network India provide networking platforms for companies based here which are interested in doing business in China and India.

Singapore is already a business hub for many countries. Some of them have established centres in Singapore for their small and medium enterprises. Thus we play host to the German Centre, the Nordic European Centre, the French Business Centre, the Japan Business Support Centre, the India Centre and others in Singapore.

Over the years, SFIC has done a lot to develop the furniture industry in Singapore. SFIC is taking advantage of Singapore’s strength as a furniture hub and plans to build a 400,000 sq.ft. Singapore International Furniture Centre which will be ready in 2 to 3 years time. The proposed new centre will be a one-stop permanent furniture export showcase for local and international sellers to reach out to buyers from all over the world. The plan is for the centre to have a retail showcase, an R&D design centre, a training facility and to provide warehousing support for the furniture industry.

I congratulate the SFIC for organizing this fair and thank AFIC for its strong support. May I wish all participants success whether you are buying or selling, or just looking at new possibilities.

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