SFIC and SPRING lead first furniture design mission to Scandinavia

Singapore, 20th August 2010 – Singapore Furniture Industries Council (SFIC) and SPRING Singapore will lead a 19-member delegation from 13 Singapore companies/institutions to Scandinavia. The one-week design study mission from 26 August to 4 September 2010 will cover the three key furniture design-led countries of Denmark, Finland and Sweden.

The delegation will visit Aalto University, the leading design education institute in Helsinki, and the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Denmark, which is the world’s oldest school of architecture and furniture design. Participants will also be given the opportunity to meet representatives from some of the world’s top design manufacturers and retailers, such as Danish furniture company Fritz Hansen and famed Swedish furniture brand OFFECCT. Other highlights in the lineup include the Copenhagen Design Fair, which is Scandinavia’s first broad-based design fair covering furniture, textile, lighting and interior architecture, and the Habitare Fair, which is Finland’s largest furniture and furnishing fair.

“Scandinavia enjoys a long history of design excellence and is famous for its innovative use of emerging technologies and materials. Being able to study the Scandinavian furniture industry first-hand is an invaluable opportunity that will no doubt be very beneficial to the participating companies’ growth in the industry,” said Mission Co-leader, Mr Andrew Pang, Vice Chairman of Design Development Committee, SFIC

As the official representative body for Singapore’s furniture industry, SFIC strives to expose Singapore enterprises to best practices and emerging trends across international design fields.

Over the last five years, Singapore’s furniture industry has experienced a steadily high growth rate of 10% annually, and rapidly gained global popularity. In 2008, it achieved total sales of S$4.9 billion which is 0.92% of the world market share.

“This inaugural furniture design trip to Scandinavia offers Singapore enterprises exposure to top quality practices as well as opportunities to interact with some of the best in class. Through missions such as this, we hope to inspire more in the industry to develop top-class capabilities that will grow our global market share and build worldwide recognition of Singapore furniture companies as a choice provider of quality design-oriented furniture,” said Ms Kee Ai Nah, Director of Lifestyle, SPRING Singapore.

SFIC has been working closely with SPRING Singapore on a series of initiatives aimed at helping players in the Singapore furniture industry improve their competitiveness and strategic advantage through design.

This mission is part of SFIC’s Furniture Design DNA (Develop, Nurture and Accelerate) programme, which is supported by SPRING Singapore. Other key initiatives under the Furniture Design DNA Programme include the Furniture Design Award (FDA), PLATFORM, design forums and workshops. In the spirit of helping members of the local furniture industry expand their scope of knowledge on a global scale, this mission aims to advance the standards and capabilities of our furniture companies and designers.