KUCHING: Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan is currently working with Singapore on the possibility of exporting Sarawak-produced furniture to the Lion City.
This was revealed by Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg who said that Awang Tengah was having discussion with Singapore on the matter.
“We can produce and supply semi-finished furniture which Singapore can refine,” he told reporters after flagging off Forest Fun Run 2019 (FFR) at Pustaka Negeri Sarawak, yesterday.
He said Sarawak’s advantage is that it has sufficient timber and fast-growing trees such as Acacia which can be used to make furniture demanded by clients in Singapore.
“In Singapore, they already have their own clients throughout the world. We can export our furniture based on their needs.
“In order to match the supply and demand chain, we produce and design according to what the clients want,” he said.
In the meantime, he said, in order to have better resource management while conserving Sarawak’s biodiversity and sustain its forests, the forestry authorities will be restructured.
“We are in the process of reviewing the structure of the agencies. Now we have two important agencies — the Forest Department Sarawak (FDS) and Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC).
“On the restructuring… SFC will be the controller of wildlife and look after the national parks, while the Forest Department will monitor forest development and reforestation,” he said.
He pointed out that a policy of the state was to make sure that a tree must be planted to replace another that has been cut. This would ensure sustainability of supply of raw materials for export.
“This is one of our long-term plans,” he said.
