KUCHING: Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) has introduced a new vision and mission to drive sustainability in the timber industry, which certain quarters had dubbed as a sunset industry.
STIDC general manager, Datuk Hashim Bojet, said the introduction is to facilitate the transformation as a mission and driving sustainability as a tagline was also to coincide with the corporation's 50th anniversary celebration.
"STIDC wishes to see the timber industry continue to remain energetic in the future and to dispel the notion that it is a sunset industry. For us in STIDC, the timber industry will never (be a) sunset (industry)," he said during the corporation's media appreciation night yesterday (Feb 19).
He said STIDC's long term plan beyond its 50 years of establishment would be in line with Sarawak's Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030) which had set a target for the timber industry to post RM8 billion revenue by 2030.
Hashim said this could be achieved by focusing on planted forests as the main source for the industry with the aim to create one million hectares of such plantations in Sarawak.
"Now we had about 560,000 hectares that had been planted and timber could be harvested between seven and 12 years' time. This could reduce the pressure of having to harvest our natural forests," he said.
In addition, he said STIDC is currently developing several projects on engineered wood products to encourage industry players to be involved more in high-value downstream activities, rather than to remain solely in primary activities.
He said the corporation is studying the success of countries such as Australia and several others in Europe which had been producing engineered wood.
Apart from timber, STIDC is also facilitating the development of the bamboo-based industry through collaboration with several universities as well as research and development institutions.
Hashim said that to date, the corporation had collaborated with China's Shanghai-based company Brook and Breeze to produce bamboo-framed bicycles but he believes there are other potentials.
He added that in line with the global green agenda, STIDC would work towards introducing circular economy initiatives to guide the timber industry players to utilise their resources to the fullest, including wood wastes. – Bernama