'Greening' the local furniture industry

MANILA, Philippines - Amid increasing concern about the effects of climate change, the Cebu Furniture Industries Foundation, Inc. (CFIF) signed up for a project that aims to help manufacturers of furniture, fashion accessories and gifts, decors and houseware become sustainable.

The project, dubbed the SMEs (small and medium enterprises) for environmental Accountability, Responsibility and Transparency (SMART) Cebu, is funded by the European Union (EU) and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development under the EU Switch Asia Program. It is implemented together with the business membership organizations of the creative sectors, CFIF, the Cebu Fashion Accessories Manufacturers and Exporters (Cebu Fame) and the Cebu Gifts, Toys and Housewares (Cebu GTH).

The project, which runs for three years, promotes clean production, development of environment-friendly products and tapping green markets in Europe and Asia.

It’s ultimate goal is to help Cebu manufacturers improve their competitiveness and contribute to a greener environment for Cebu.

Under the project, CFIF hired two nucleus counsellors (NCs) who are tasked to meet companies and find out their needs. The NCs will serve as the member-companies liaison to their business management organization (BMO) that will, in turn, develop strategies to address the needs of the member-companies. Thus, the work of the NCs also serves to strengthen the BMO.

At the end of three years, SMART Cebu aims to capacitate BMOs-CFIF, Cebu FAME and Cebu GTH-to promote and effectively channel sustainable consumption and production; develop an effective marketing strategy to book sales of green products from Cebu; and promote cleaner and more efficient processes in the production of home and lifestyle products in Cebu.

The project, through the BMOs, intends to offer advisory services on sustainable consumption and production, business matching events, tailor-made trainings and skills enhancement and expertise on improved production processes. It also wants to help companies realize savings through improved use of resources, like water and electricity.

The project is implemented by Sequa GmbH with the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines as coordinator. – CFIF through the Philexport News and Features