KUCHING, April 26: The Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) sees its position in the trade and proximity to the government as both a strength and an opportunity to improve the competitiveness of the Malaysian timber industry, says the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC).
According to a statement issued today by the MPIC, MTC is constantly engaging stakeholders through various engagement programmes, one of which is the organisation of a briefing session to assist the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) in attracting investors for the two furniture parks that it is constructing in the State.
MPIC mentioned that aside from implementing initiatives to tackle the many challenges faced by industry players, MTC is also committed to achieving the objectives set out in the MTC Roadmap 2019-2023 and the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030.
“A briefing session was organised today by the MTC to the timber industry players in Peninsular Malaysia and potential investors at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) in Putrajaya.
“At the briefing, STIDC said it has all the machinery in place to make Sarawak the new furniture hub and hope to collaborate with MTC and industry members to materialise this initiative.
“By looking at the State’s timber resources, which have a high potential for producing value-added wooden-based products, the furniture parks are a timely set-up for the development of its timber industry,” MPIC stated in its statement.
As per MPIC, the Sarawak Furniture Parks, which will be established in Kuching and Tanjung Manis in collaboration with industry players, are part of the State government’s efforts to strengthen Sarawak’s downstream timber operations with higher value-added products in order to develop the State’s furniture industry.
It noted that the Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Willie Mongin, who was present at the briefing session, said the timber industry has been and will continue to be an important economic sector for Sarawak in terms of employment opportunities, business creation, and export earnings.
“The furniture parks are part of the State government’s policy under its Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030) which places a specific focus on producing more timber-based products.
“The furniture parks will help Sarawak to double its timber export revenue from almost RM4 billion to RM8 billion by 2030.
“Apart from furniture, other value-added products identified to contribute to this export target are engineered wood products, plywood-based, and bamboo-based products,” Willie said.
He added that the parks will facilitate efficient horizontal and vertical integration with sustainably sourced raw materials.
Meanwhile, STIDC said Sarawak is gearing to certify 4.5 million hectares of long-term timber licence area and 178,000 hectares of forest plantation under the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCS).
“The State government is also looking into Human Capital and Infrastructure development to accelerate the growth of the furniture parks.
“The Sarawak Furniture Parks are expected to generate RM500 million in investment,” STIDC said. — DayakDaily
