HCM City furniture group signs design deal with Italians

The Handicraft and Wood Industry Association (HAWA) and Italian furniture industry association Centro Speri-mentale del Mobile (CSM) last week signed a memorandum of understanding for co-operation in research, marketing, training, and furniture design and wood-processing technology.

Under the agreement signed in Florence by a visiting HAWA delegation, CSM will help HAWA enter into tie-ups with relevant institutions in Italy, including training organisations and woodworking-machinery and tool-manufacturers associations.

It will also help HAWA’s members with marketing to boost exports to Italy.

HAWA, in turn, will assist CSM with establishing contacts with its members, make factory visits, and generally work with the furniture sector in Viet Nam.

The HAWA delegation comprising executives from 11 firms was in Italy from April 11 to 18 to study the wood processing industry.

The visitors called at the international furniture fair in Milan, wood processing factories in Tuscany region, and elsewhere.

Viet Nam’s export of wooden furniture to Italy has risen from nearly US$27 million in 2009 to $32.2 million last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

It was worth $15.5 million in the first quarter of this year, a 17.4 per cent increase year on year. — VNS