Support for MIC to strengthen Ecuadorian wood sector

(Quito, February 2, 2008).- With the support of CAF and MIC, the Export and Investment Promotion Corporation (Corpei) and the Forest Foundation of the Small Wood Industry of Pichincha (Fundepim), held the closing workshop of the project Diagnosis, training and technical assistance for development of packing and wrapping, in which 12 small- and medium-sized wood enterprises participated.

The main problems faced by wood companies in relation to marketing processes and positioning their final products on national and international markets are presentation, deterioration and reduction of useful life due to deficient packaging and wrapping systems.

CAF executive Jairo Tiusabá mentioned "the importance of creating awareness and training for business owners on packaging and wrapping processes in the management of distribution in an effort to meet the challenges and exploit the opportunities of the trade opening."

The project covered diagnosis of the current state of the participating companies; technical assistance with implementation of adequate packaging and wrapping systems; and dissemination of the results and recommendations of the project to all members of the wood sector, with a view to increasing their productivity and guaranteeing the quality of delivery of final products on the international market.

Representatives of several companies said that the advice received made a considerable contribution to the creative and innovative improvement of the packaging design of export products, rational use of the raw material, and implementation of the use of corrugated paper to prevent deterioration of the export product. They also recognized the importance of displaying the brand on the packaging, adding that the companies now had a technical manual for the various packaging and wrapping systems.

The 12 companies selected for technical assistance provided by the Brazilian consulting firm STCP were: Atu, Legend, Modermueble, Madeval, La Galería, Vitefama, Cesa, Muepramodul, Línea Cypress, Colineal, Iroko and Inmaia.

This initiative is part of the actions of the Competitiveness Support Program (PAC) which CAF implements in its member countries with the aim of increasing the productivity of productive sectors.