REPRESENTATIVES of Myanmar’s timber merchants industry left late last week to attend international furniture fairs in Malaysia and Thailand to promote their products throughout the Southeast Asian region.

Three Myanmar wood-based furniture companies were scheduled to display products at the Thailand International Furniture Fair (TIFF) 2005, held at the IMPACT Exhibition Centre in northern Bangkok from March 4 to 8.

TIFF is an annual event jointly organised by Thailand’s Department of Export Promotion and Ministry of Commerce to showcase furniture for the home, office and garden. Although products are mostly wood-based, an increasing number of leather, metal and rattan products have appeared in the past few years.

Almost 8000 traders attended TIFF 2004, including 2770 overseas visitors, mostly from Asia, the US and the UK. Of these about 90 per cent indicated they would return for the 2005 event. Last year 229 companies, mostly from Thailand, displayed their products in 1211 booths.

Meanwhile a delegation of more than 20 value-added wood-based companies – led by U Aung Lwin, the chairman of the Myanmar Forest Products and Timber Merchants Association – headed for the Malaysia Furniture Export Exhibition (MAFEX) 2005 trade fair, held at the Malaysia International Exhibition and Convention Center, Kuala Lumpur, from March 3 to 7.

“This is first time Myanmar has participated in MAFEX, which follows our acceptance as a member of the ASEAN Furniture Council in January,” said U Aye Lwin, the general secretary of the association.

Myanmar exhibitors will emphasise traditional handicrafts and furniture in their displays, he said.

U Kyaw Soe Moe Lwin – the managing director of the Modern Furniture Company, and the head of the delegation of furniture manufactures from Mandalay Division – said 13 furniture companies from Mandalay planned to continue on from Malaysia to visit furniture exhibitions in Singapore and China later in the month.

Although Myanmar produces high volumes of timber, the country only earned US$58 million through the export of furniture in 2003.

Thailand and Malaysia, meanwhile, purchase raw timber from Myanmar and produce value-added products for export. In 2003 Thailand earned more than $1 billion and Malaysia $1.6 billion from furniture exports, said U Aye Lwin.