STOCKHOLM: While on his working visit to Sweden, Deputy Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan had a networking session with Business Sweden, an agency promoting Swedish companies to grow in global market and foreign direct investors to expand business in Sweden.
The Deputy Premier of Sarawak was on a 2-day working visit to Stockholm, Sweden to promote Sarawak as an investment destination for Swedish investors while exploring areas for collaboration on forest management, plantation and technology to process planted timber species.
He was briefed by Swedish Forest Agencies, Swedish Wood Building Council, Ecco Innovation Foundation and Billerud on matters pertaining to the development of forest industries in Sweden, use on engineered wood to construct timber structures, collaboration by Ecco Innovation Foundation is other countries in South East Asia and pulp and paper industry.
The industry has a structure mission to achieve a circular bio-based society for Sweden.
At the same session, General Manager of Sarawak Planted Forest Sdn Bhd, Paul Valentine, gave a briefing on an over view development status of planted forest in Sarawak and opportunities for future collaborations and investments for the Swedish business communities in digital technology, mechanisation for planted forest harvesting and production of high value-added products such as pulp, paper, engineered wood and biomass fuel.
The Deputy Premier offers the Swedish business community to consider venture in Sarawak in the forestry, forest plantation and wood-based industries. He added that Sarawak is moving towards a sustainable and renewable wood-based industry utilising material from forest plantations to produce engineered wood, biomass fuels, pulp and paper.
Meanwhile, Business Sweden sees potential opportunities to consider in Sarawak in areas like research and innovation, digital application in forest management, forest industries for wood structure constructions and human capital development.
Business Sweden in collaboration with the industries and agencies will continue to engage dialogues with Sarawak to identify areas of common interest to be considered and implemented in the future.
Also present during this working visit are Swedish Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Joachim Bengstrom, Deputy Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration and Natural Resources Datuk Len Talif Salleh, Advisor to the Ministry of International Trade, Industry and Investment (MINTRED) Dato Sri Mohd Naroden Majais, Director of Forests, Datu Hamden Mohammad, Permanent Secretary of MINTRED, Dzulkornain Masron, General Manager of Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC), Zainal Abidin Abdullah, Advisor to STIDC, Datu Hashim Bojet, CEO of Invest Sarawak Timothy Ong, and CEO of PUSAKA Capital Sdn Bhd, Mohd Nor Topek Julaihi. - UKASnews
