26 April - 2 May 2001

Multi-faceted assistance for Maltese furniture industry

The Institute for the Promotion of Small Enterprise Ltd (IPSE) is actively assisting the Maltese furniture manufacturing sector. The main thrust of its activities target (a) the individual enterprise with the programmes of assistance designed to facilitate the individual enterprise’s restructuring efforts, (b) the sector as a whole and (c) the sub-sectoral level with assistance to enterprises to encourage them to work more together through networking and similar efforts.
IPSE’s assistance is based on the findings and recommendations of the Sectoral Analysis Report on the Maltese Furniture Industry, published last June.
Besides IPSE’s efforts, other agencies are also extending assistance to the local furniture sector. Since the publication of the Furniture Report, Metco has attended three international furniture fairs: the Manchester Furniture Fair in July 2000, the Intex Furniture Fair in the United Arab Emirates in October 2000 and the Birmingham Furniture Fair in January this year. Metco also intends to attend this year’s Intex Fair in October.
Between 2 and 5 April representatives of seven furniture manufacturing enterprises travelled to Italy on an exploratory visit organised by IPSE with the assistance of Confartigianato (Treviso). The Maltese entrepreneurs visited 18 Italian enterprises operating in areas like contract works, panel manufacturing, kitchen doors and other components.
Through the visits, the Maltese delegation was able to see in detail how the Italian furniture enterprises operate and how they network within their respective industrial estates and local areas, two of the principal aims of the visit.
The visit was very positively received by the enterprises on the visit and it allowed IPSE to deepen the already strong relationship it has with Confartigianato. The possibility of help from the Italian association for a Maltese design house was discussed, as well as some sort of arrangement for the testing of locally produced
furniture abroad at a testing lab.
Following this first successful exploratory visit, representatives of Confartigianato and ArtigianExport will be visiting Malta on 2 May to establish business cooperation between Maltese and Italian enterprises, and to further cement existing relationships. In particular, the Confartigianato will be assisting IPSE in setting up a design house for the Maltese furniture industry. It will also be offering its expertise in assessing the viability and potential of a Maltese furniture export house, which should facilitate the entry of Maltese manufacturers into international furniture markets.
Eric Smith, a furniture industry adviser from Ireland has joined IPSE team from 2 April. Mr Swift, an expert in the operations aspect of furniture manufacturing, is available to local furniture manufacturers requiring input and support in their production processes and quality systems.
IPSE has also been facilitating discussions between a number of furniture manufacturing enterprises aimed at setting up a Furniture Trade Group. The steering committee has now established the aims and statutes of the Trade Group, which will be launched in mid-May.
For more information call IPSE on 233838 or email us at info@ipse.org.mt.