Timber trade with Malaysia?

CHENNAI: A 70-member delegation from Sarawak, Malaysia’s biggest state, visited the city to strengthen ties and promote timber trade between the two nations.The Sarawak Investment and Timber Development Corporation (STIDC) organised the Sarawak Investment and Timber Selling Mission delegation in Chennai, and will then  be taken to Mumbai. The delegation was led by the Second Minister of Resource Planning and Environment, Minister of Public Utilities and Minister of Industrial Development, Sarawak and Chairman of STIDC Board of Management, Datuk Amar Haji Awang Tengah Bin Ali Hasan.Addressing the press here on Monday, the Assistant Minister of Environment and Assistant Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department (Promotion of Technical Education) and Member of STIDC Board of Management, Datu Haji Len Talif Salleh, spoke about the potential for timber trade in Sarawak.“In India, there is no renewable forestation. In Malaysia, there is traceability – if a hectare of trees is cut down, it is replanted so that by the time we are done with the rest of the trees, we have new ones,” he said. He also said that the market and demand for soft timber in India is high.“There is a sustainable amount of interest in importing timber to Tamil Nadu. Although last year the numbers dipped slightly due to inclement weather, the demand was not lessened and we hope to make the figures better next year,” he said.The Minister also said that since Sarawak has cheaper green and renewable energy, it can be a good place to start industries for prospective investors.The STIDC mission will also sign two Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) – one with the Chennai Timber and Plywood Merchant’s Association and another in Mumbai, with the Timber Importer’s Association India Ltd. A seminar for private companies was held in the city on Monday, to familiarise them with the prospects in Sarawak, and to assist them in the process of investment.