The Government is to introduce a comprehensive National Timber Industry Policy which will give priority to the growth of downstream industries.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui said the policy would envisage action plans and the RM22 billion timber industry’s future direction till 2020.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak will launch the policy on Feb 17 at the Putrajaya International Convention Centre.
“The police will give preference to restructure the timber industry, 60 percent downstream and 40 percent upstream industries.
“We want to produce more quality and value-added timber products that will give more export value,” he told reporters.
Chin said the policy would provide for use of modern technology, research and development to produce innovative timber products and would ensure the industry had highly skilled manpower.
He said the government wants to ensure the timber industry has the competitive edge and was resilient to face global competition.
Malaysia’s timber exports are expected to touch RM53 billion by 2020, he said.
“We also want to encourage increased participation of the private sector and Bumiputeras in the timber industry, especially in the forest estate planting programme.
Since introduced in 2006, the government has allocated RM1.12 billion for the programme. Fourteen applications worth RM232.5 million have been approved covering 52,435 hectares of forest land.
Chin also said timber exports this year might slow down following reduced imports from countries that used wood in large quantities for the housing sector.
“We export timber to European countries, the United States, China and India. There are signs that they are cutting down on the use of timber following the sluggish global economic climate and this has affected our exports,” he said.
The price of the primary product has dwindled by between 30 and 40 per cent since the fourth quarter of last year.
-Bernama
For further information log on website :
https://envdevmalaysia.wordpress.com/2009/02/11/national-timber-industry-policy-to-be-introduced/
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