KUCHING, Aug 2 — Sarawak could be a hub for the bamboo industry in Malaysia if it has a proper masterplan and identifies the types that could be grown in commercial scales, Premier Tan Sri Abang Johari Openg said today.
He said under the Post-Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030 (PCDS 2030), the state is targeting 10,000ha for commercial bamboo plantations and another 1,640ha for community cultivation.
“But so far, we have developed 2,760ha under commercial plantation and 59ha under community plantation, which means that we need to develop more land for bamboo plantation,” he said at the signing of memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) and Rich Venture Plantation Sdn Bhd.
He said this meant large areas earmarked for the bamboo plantation have yet to be developed in the state has the right ecosystem for large scale bamboo cultivation.
“The problem is that we need to have a proper masterplan for the commercial bamboo plantation and identify the types of bamboo species that needed to be planted,” he said.
STIDC general manager Zainal Abidin Abdullah said the MoU is to explore the processing of commercial bamboo plantation into high value-added products aligned with market opportunity, demand, and offtakes requirement particularly in production of biomass, charcoal, and food packaging products.
He said this could further enhance the inter-change of ideas between STIDC and Rich Venture Plantation.
He said STIDC has successfully formulated the Sarawak Bamboo Industry Development Master Plan in 2019 after various consultations with relevant stakeholders.
“Since then, STIDC has identified four key focus industries including charcoal, engineered bamboo, food and handicraft,” he said.
Zainal Abidin signed the MoU on behalf of STIDC while Rich Venture Plantation was represented by its director Hii Wei Wen.
