KOTA SAMARAHAN: Forget aluminium, carbon fiber or even titanium. How about a bamboo bicycle?
The Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) is now working on producing the first ever bicycle made out of bamboo in Sarawak.
And its General Manager Datuk Hashim Bojet said the first prototype of the bamboo bicycle is projected for completion by early August.
“This is the result of a collaboration with a company in Shanghai, China. At the moment, we have brought in an expert to train our workers in Kota Samarahan to build these bicycles.
“We are developing this to further enhance the bamboo-based industry of Sarawak, especially in its interior areas, in line with our aspiration in the Post COVID-19 Development Strategy (PCDS) 2030,” he explained.
Hashim said this after officiating at the STIDC’s Ibadah Qurban programme here on Monday (July 11).
STIDC, he said, is venturing into producing bamboo based products as part of its efforts to achieve an export value of RM8 billion by 2030.
He pointed out that the bicycle project is STIDC’s first venture into the bamboo industry, adding that the corporation is seeking to develop the industry further by encouraging the people to participate in bamboo planting.
“For the processing of bamboo to produce other products, we are also collaborating with various renowned universities.
“This will enable us to conduct research and development (R&D) to optimise the use of bamboo to produce added value products.”
He also revealed that STIDC is planning to develop two furniture parks in the state to boost local and international furniture exports.
“One furniture park will be built in Demak Laut, Kuching, while another one will be built in Tanjung Manis near Mukah.
“With these furniture parks, we are aiming for not less than RM4 billion in contribution in our export targets from the furniture industry, paving the way for the industry to become the main contributor,” he explained.
Apart from that, Hashim noted that the corporation is also seeking to develop products based on bamboo and glued laminated wood (Glulam wood).
He said there are favourable climate change mitigation opportunities in using wood products and that Sarawak has the right tools to produce such products.
“Nowadays, everyone is talking about climate change mitigation. We believe there will be more demand for wood products in various sectors around the world as we speak,” he added.
