Building & Investment (Mar - Apr 2016) (Mar - Apr 2016) | Page 32

News & Events Professional Designers Programme (PDP) showcased at EFE The Professional Designer Programme is a joint initiative by MTIB and MFPC to enhance the Malaysian talent pool in the furniture industry. AS SCHEDULED, IT could not have been a better time and place than the international EFE – the Export Furniture Exhibition - at which to showcase what the threephased PDP has achieved insofar as honing Malaysian talent in furniture design and production. Launched in June 2015 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement, the Professional Designers Programme is a joint initiative by the Malaysian Timber Industry (MTIB) and the Malaysian Furniture Promotion Council (MFPC) aimed at integrating original designs and designers into Malaysian furniture production. About PDP The PDP is envisioned to take research in furniture design to the next level, i.e., original Malaysian designs of international standards, and transform while adding value to production of Malaysian furniture into own design manufacturing (ODM), in deference to reproduction [of the design(s) of others under own equipment manufacturing (OEM)]. Fully supported 28 Building & Investment  | www.b-i.biz by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), the grander objectives, though, are to boost Malaysia’s current annual average furniture export value of RM8 billion to RM16 billion by 2020 and for the Malaysian wood-based industry to stay strong and competitive in world markets. Hazmi Zakaria, Stephen Ting Eng Poh, SIm Chia Yi, Nasaruddin Shah Morani and Stephanie Ng Hui Sen, and • MFPC’s Malaysia Pride** recipients, i.e., Deep Furniture Sdn Bhd, Zone Furniture Sdn Bhd Dynamic Furniture Industries Sdn Bhd and Tawei Furniture Sdn Bhd. PDP Content Funded by MTIB, the 2015/2016 pilot project is run by a quartet of professional designers, shortlisted from a pool of renowned Europeans, namey; Filippo Mambretti, Giorgo Biscaro and Manoto Bossi from Italy and Belgian, Stefan Schöning. Programme participants came from two sources, i.e.: • MTIB’s TANGGAM* Designers: Mohd Shahrul Anuwar, Mohd Sujak Hasbolla, Addy Putra Zulkifli, Mohd The year-long mentoring exercise, that included entrepreneurship, culminated in the showcasing, at the four-day EFE, of 20 prototypes by participating Malaysia Pride Recipients, market-ready furniture of high sales value and original design. Also, yet another significant feature of the PDP, is the approval for registration by the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) of eight original designs from the Professional Designers which rights MTIB will own. ■ (N.B. *TANGGAM is a MTIB programme to nurture and promote young Malaysian designers through competitions (e.g., MOBILI) and international exposure. ** Malaysia Pride is a Quality Mark programme initiated by MFPC for high quality and design excellence in the furniture industry.)