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KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, July 27, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF), the largest industry show in Southeast Asia, has expanded its support for local young design talent.
For the third straight year, UBM Malaysia, the organiser of MIFF, recently presented RM150,000 to the country's largest industry group, Muar Furniture Association (MFA), to support its activities that includes initiatives to interest the younger generations in furniture making.
The MFA efforts are in tandem with MIFF's annual MIFF Furniture Design Competition (MIFF FDC) begun in 2000 to groom young talent and encourage them to enter the industry.
Mr M Gandhi, Managing Director of ASEAN Business at UBM Asia, sees the nurturing of young designers as an effective initiative to deliver sustainable benefits to the Malaysian furniture industry.
"Our corporate social responsibility initiatives are business-driven for our customers. We are focused on making a positive difference by creating a supportive environment that can excite and draw young people into furniture design to ensure a successful and sustainable future for the local industry," said Mr Gandhi.
MFA president Mr Neo Chee Kiat said MIFF's contribution demonstrated its commitment to enhance the industry in a constructive way because design talent was crucial to make Malaysian products more competitive amid growing international rivalry.
"We have organised various programmes such as furniture design and even student field trips to visit MIFF this year to get them closer to the industry. Design is a lifeline that will shape the future of Malaysian furniture. We have a fruitful strategic alliance with MIFF and we will continue to carry on with this partnership that has brought a lot of value and exposure to our members," he added.
Muar is the leading furniture hub in Malaysia with some 700 manufacturers and accounts for up to half of the country's furniture exports.
MIFF FDC 2016 has been launched with the same theme as last year, "Living Furniture, Global Perspective", to encourage designs targeted for the international market.
The hotly-contested young talent competition has attracted over 1,000 entries since it begun in 2010. It has also gained the sponsorship of the Malaysian Timber Council from last year.
Over RM20,000 prize money will be up for grabs and the designs of the 10 finalists picked by an international jury are prototyped and showcased at MIFF 2016, 1-5 March.
The international jury is led by Chief Judge Philip Yap, a prominent Malaysian designer-based in China, who served in the same capacity for the 2015 competition.
Yap will conduct a workshop for potential contestants at Putra World Trade here on Aug 8 (Saturday). A session for 30 design lecturers was held earlier on July 13 to share insights into latest industry happenings to help them prepare their students for the competition.
Entries and designs must be submitted by Oct 5 (Monday) 2015. Shortlisted participants will be notified to attend the preliminary judging between Oct 12 and 16 and 40 will be picked for the semifinal round on Oct 23.
Judges will be looking at concept and design at the preliminary stage. During the semifinal, production and marketability are the key aspects. The final round will take place on Feb 29 at which the judges will view, test and evaluate the potential of the designs to become full collections.
Entries and designs will only be accepted on an official registration form which can be downloaded from www.mifffdc.com.
For more information, visit www.miff.com.my and www.mifffdc.com.
Notes to Editors
About MIFF (www.miff.com.my)
Malaysian International Furniture Fair (MIFF) is an export-oriented furniture trade show held annually in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It is also a global leading trade show approved by UFI, The Global Association for Exhibition Industry. Since 1995, MIFF has nurtured invaluable partnerships between thousands of buyers and furniture makers across the globe.
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