Speakers at the Ambient furniture fair, which runs from Tuesday to Sunday in Ljubljana, have underscored the role of the wood and furniture industry for exiting the economic crisis. Several awards have also been given out at the fair, which features 209 furniture makers from 21 countries.
The revival of the wood industry must be a priority for Slovenia in fighting the crisis, parliamentary Speaker Janko Veber stressed at yestrday's opening, highlighting the need to invest in infrastructure, develop and promote products and create a business environment allowing the creation of high-value-added jobs.
Economy Ministry State Secretary Andreja Kert echoed this view at Wednesday's conference, organised as part of the fair by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry's (GZS) wood and furniture industry branch and the wood industry department of the Ljubljana Biotechnical Faculty.
Boosting development activities, also in the wood industry, is a condition for exiting the crisis, she said and called on managers in the Slovenian wood industry to prepare new projects and upgrade old ones, which she said the government would support.
Agriculture Ministry State Secretary Tanja Strniša added that wood was not optimally used in Slovenia, noting that using the potential of wood also in construction would give the domestic industry more chances to grow.
However, Igor Milavec, the head of the GZS's wood branch, said the wood processing industry could see no end to the crisis and needed a more competition-stimulating environment.
The traditional Ambient fair is sponsored this year by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and is organised along with the Italian festival 2013.
It features the newest trends in interior decoration in the area between Milan and Vienna.
Addressing the opening on Tuesday, Italian Ambassador to Slovenia Rossella Franchini Sherifis said furniture and other interior equipment was a showcase for Italy as one of the many faces of its tradition, stemming from know-how and creativity.
Italy's furniture sector alone, the ambassador stressed, accounted for over EUR 8bn in exports and Italy is Slovenia's second biggest foreign partner in the sector, holding a 14.5% market share.
Ten awards for furniture companies were conferred already at the opening by the organisers, while the SPIRIT Slovenije agency gave out an additional ten awards for promotion of wood at today's conference.
Source: TheSloveniaTimes
