A Board of Investment(BOI) project was initiated with Qiao Zhen Lanka International (Pvt) Ltd. for the production of furniture and furniture parts for the export market. The total project investment is valued at US $ five million (over Rs. 650 million). The project is scheduled to commence with the signing which was held yesterday.

“Sri Lanka is sufficient in terms of relevant material and labour force, which is cheaper when compared to Chinese labour.

Initially, we will be producing furniture and furniture parts to be exported to China and in the near future, we will focus on exporting to other overseas markets, directly from Sri Lanka,” a representative from Qiao Zhen International disclosed.

Main components which will be manufactured are furniture and accessories such as join boards, tooth shape boards, wooden flow with the use of rubber wood and other non-precious woods that is commonly being used for fire wood in Sri Lanka. Through this initiative, 350 work opportunities will be created for locals, directly and indirectly whilst also bringing about improvement to the technological factors in the Sri Lankan furniture manufacturing industry. Waste from the production is set to be used for tea and gloves factories as well as for fire wood usage.

The Chinese investor, Qiao Zhen set up his Sri Lankan branch in February this year and hence, after noticing the great opportunities ahead with the country seeing fruition in the economical aspect, he also added that the relationship between Sri Lanka and China also shows the possibility in expanding his business and continuing to grow with the country’s prospects.

A recommendation was also passed by the Rubber Research Institute of Sri Lanka (RRISL) where the significance of the value addition aspects of rubber wood was highly encouraged.

The recommendation from the RRISL also disclosed that at present, most of the rubber timber has not been utilized to its full and proper potential, specifically the value added furniture industry, since it is extensively being used as fire wood.

Rubber wood branches are abundantly being used by many upstream industries such as for tea processing in Sri Lanka. Overall, this project signifies the boost for other prospective entrepreneurs in Sri Lanka to introduce more rubber wood processing industries into the country.