In order to facilitate the appropriate diversification of Macao’s economy, create more possibilities for Macao’s co-operation with the rest of the world, enhance its international status and influence, and in response to global climate change and China’s active participation in global environmental governance, facilitating the co-operation between the Macao Special Administrative Region and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), a professional organisation in the sustainable development of global tropical forest resources, is of great significance.
This year, IPIM and ITTO plan to jointly hold the “Global Sustainable Timber Forum and Exhibition” in November. It is expected that the event will be held in Macao to push forward the development of Macao in four directions: first, to enhance Macao’s international influence; second, to promote the development of Macao’s convention and exhibition industry and the peripheral industries; third, to help enrich the connotation of Macao’s China-PSC platform, giving full play to the platform’s advantages of platform to facilitate the trade between China and Portuguese-speaking countries; fourth, to help cultivate talents in the scientific research and other professional fields in Macao, e.g. the University of Macau’s participation in the related research.
Giving full play to Macao’s advantages to carry out various co-operation tasks
With the assistance of the Ministry of Commerce of the People’s Republic of China, the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM), responsible for attracting investment and promoting the development of the convention and exhibition industry, has established contact with ITTO since 2019. IPIM made good use of Macao’s development positioning and policies supported by the country, including “One Centre, One Platform, One Base”, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin, and other development opportunities, to continue carrying out the relevant tasks.
Among them, IPIM and ITTO carried out the projects “About the Construction of the Global Timber Industry Index Platform” and the “Research on the Collaborative Operations of the Blockchain-Based Timber Traceability System” in May 2022. In December 2022, the “Global Timber Index Platform GTI Report Press Conference and International Workshop on Global Timber Market Trend” was successfully held in Macao. More than 170 participants from the timber industry including enterprises, associations and research institutions from 12 countries participated in the events online and offline.
GTI as the “Barometer” and “Weathervane”
At the event, IPIM and ITTO officially released the world’s first timber industry prosperity index - the Global Timber Index (GTI), which was generated through the monthly survey and statistics of the dominant timber industry enterprises in the global timber producing countries and timber consuming countries, can reflect the latest trends of the global timber industry in a timely manner and serve as a “Barometer” and “Weathervane” of the global timber industry operation. The index covers seven countries including China, Brazil, Congo, Gabon, Indonesia, Malaysia and Mexico, and will continue to expand the scope of sample countries. The report will continue to be updated on the website of the Global Green Supply Chains (GGSC) (https://www.itto-ggsc.org/).
Additionally, the event also announced that the GTI Platform was put into operation, thereby establishing an information exchange platform linked by GTI for global timber enterprises, and promoting the formation of a stable, transparent and predictable industrial development environment.
Joining hands to achieve green and sustainable development
Executive Director of ITTO Sheam Satkuru, who attended the event online, expressed her gratitude to Macao for its strong support and active participation in the GTI Platform and also commented that the release of the GTI monthly report was one small step for an activity and also one giant leap for the global timber sector. Founder and President of STCP Brazil Ivan Tomaselli said that many Brazilian enterprises expressed their interest and willingness to join the GTI Platform, hoping to promote sustainable global timber trade through data sharing and exchange.
According to on-site participants, holding an international conference related to the timber industry market in Macao does not only reflect the advantages of Macao as an exhibition destination, but also helps promote the concept of environmental protection and sustainable development. Opinions also suggested that Macao has the advantages of being an international city, and through co-operation with ITTO and GGSC, it will play a positive role in the development of the exhibition economy, green finance, and sustainable trade.
ITTO is a global authoritative organisation with international influence
ITTO is the only international organisation engaged in inter-governmental communication and co-operation in tropical forestry and forest product trade in the world. It is the implementation and management agency of the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA). Moreover, ITTO was established in 1986 with the goal of promoting the protection and sustainable management of and utilisation and trade of tropical forest resources.
ITTO has 37 members from producing countries and 38 members from consuming countries, covering 80% of countries that export tropical timber and 90% of countries that import and sell tropical timber. As a global authoritative organisation, ITTO has assisted in the implementation of more than 1,200 projects internationally and has rich professional experience in the forest industry. Among the members of ITTO, China is a consuming country. In terms of Portuguese-speaking countries, Angola, Brazil and Mozambique are members of producing countries, while Portugal is a member of consuming countries.
