A PRIVATELY owned wood-based products factory that opened during the second week of November plans to start exporting its products to countries in the Middle East and Europe by next February.

“We are going to export semi-finished and value-added wood-based products to foreign markets starting in February,” said U Kyaw Kyaw Win, the managing director of Sinma Furnishings Ltd.

He told the Myanmar Times that the company will focus on markets in Europe and the Middle East rather than Asia because the majority of buyers in Asia are not end users, but rather brokers who export Myanmar products to the world market after purchase.

With the company focusing on the end users’ market, it will be very important to participate in international furniture exhibitions to increase sales, said U Kyaw Kyaw Win.

“We will display our furniture products annually at international fairs, like the Malaysia Furniture Fair to help penetrate the Middle Eastern markets indirectly – there are many free trade zones in United Arabs Emirates,” he said.

The factory will require 3000 tonnes of teak a year, as well as undisclosed amounts of lighter hardwoods. It will manufacture products for both domestic and foreign markets.

U Kyaw Kyaw Win said the company would eventually like to make inroads into the Japanese market but doing so would take some time, as Japanese buyers are very sensitive to quality control and manufacturing precision.

More than 100 workers and skilled labourers are employed at the new factory. The company has hired foreign experts from abroad to provide skills and technology training for its employees.

The new factory is the third to be opened by Sinma Furnishings. The first two factories manufacture products solely for the domestic market.

The factory is located in Yangon’s Shwe Pyi Thar Industrial Zone No (4).