Building on the successful achievements and experience of the inaugural edition last year, the Global Legal & Sustainable Timber Forum 2024 (GLSTF 2024) will be held in September in Macao this year as a large international forum in the forestry and timber industry.

GLSTF aims to contribute Macao’s strength to the sustainable development of the timber industry and the slowdown in climate change, demonstrate Macao’s green, diverse and international image and advantages, and, at the same time, help the industry around the world to exchange ideas and create opportunities for co-operation.

A number of research projects and cross-national collaborative action plans will be unveiled during the event to showcase new results and progress in international co-operation.

Demonstrating Macao’s green, diverse and international image and advantages

The GLSTF 2024 is jointly hosted by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) of the Macao Special Administrative Region, organised by the Secretariat of the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC) and supported by MGM as the “diamond partner”. It will be held on 11 and 12 September at MGM COTAI.

The GLSTF 2024 is themed “Together Towards Reliable and Effective Global Timber Supply Chains”. By leveraging Macao’s advantages as an MICE platform, it intends to provide a constructive and forward-looking platform to stakeholders, including government departments from countries producing and consuming timber and enterprises, associations and international organisations in the timber industry for dialogues, exchanges and co-operation, thus fostering the development of the legal and sustainable timber supply chains.

Brightening Macao’s international presence and raising its global recognition as the “Best Convention City (Asia)”

In recent years, Macao has reinforced its efforts to establish co-operation mechanisms with authoritative international organisations and invited them to host mega international conventions and exhibitions specialising in a wider range of industries in the region. These have helped Macao, the Best Convention City (Asia), raise its global recognition and competitiveness and enhance the city’s presence as an international metropolis. Macao can also give full play to the synergistic effect of new business forms characterised by “industry+ MICE”, and facilitate its appropriate economic diversification.

Meanwhile, Macao’s role as the China-PSCs platform and its geographical advantage have led the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Co-operation Zone in Hengqin to grasp the co-operation trends and have further connected the latest information and supply and demand in trade in mainland China, Portuguese-speaking countries and even the international market. In the future, Macao will bring about more industrial co-operation opportunities around the world through its MICE platform.

Upgrading the scale of the event with representatives from international organisations in participation doubled

The GLSTF 2024, with its participation scale significantly raised, will invite around 700 key government officials and representatives from international organisations, major international timber associations and enterprises in about 40 countries and regions. The number of international organisations which participants represent has doubled compared to last year’s. Representatives from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations, the World Wildlife Fund and the Green Climate Fund will come to the event in Macao for the first time. In addition, exhibition areas will be set up to display wood products and small timber building materials.

Supported by the Commerce and Investment Promotion Institute of the Macao SAR, the platform of the Global Timber Index (GTI) and the project of the Blockchain-based Timber Traceability System (BTTS), jointly initiated by the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) and the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC) have gained new achievements. These achievements will be showcased during the event.

Facilitating the development of green finance in Macao and developing new growth points in the sector

At last year’s GLSTF, a Chinese forestry company based in Africa signed with an African business association the Joint Declaration of Intent (JDoI) for Sustainable Forest Management and Responsible Timber Industry Operations[1] , and the Global Green Supply Chain of Forest Products (Macao) Federation entered into the China-Africa Timber Green Supply Chain Action Agreement [2] with China’s three important industrial clusters for timber products. These achievements have been recognised and valued by the Central African Forest Initiative (CAFI) of the United Nations Development Programme.

This year, CAFI and the Greater Bay Area Green Finance Alliance will organise, and the Macau Association of Banks will co-organise the GLSTF 2024 Green Finance Sub-forum (Sub-forum 4). At the Sub-forum, they will initiate the “Action Plan for the Integration of Green Finance and Green Supply Chains (GF&GS)” [3] with enterprises and associations upstream and downstream of the supply chains in China and Africa in a bid to further promote co-operation in green finance in Macao and help the city develop new growth points in the sector.

In addition, faculty members and students from the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Macau participated in a youth side event last year and assisted in the GLSTF as volunteers. Since then, the Global Green Supply Chains Initiative (GGSC) has continued to deepen co-operation with the university. Therefore, as a co-organiser of the youth side event at this edition, the faculty will have two PhD students deliver a speech as representatives.

Expanding the society of the timber industry in international co-operation

The GLSTF 2024 has greatly increased its participation scale. Nearly 700 key government officials, representatives from international organisations, major international timber associations and enterprises in about 40 countries and regions will participate in the event. Government officials of the deputy-ministerial level from the Central African Republic, the Republic of the Congo, Peru, and the Republic of Fiji will attend the event. Moreover, the participating international organisations have doubled compared to last year’s. Macao’s participation also continues to grow.

The event consists of a main forum and four specialised sub-forums. A number of research projects and cross-national collaborative action plans will be unveiled during the event to showcase new results and progress in international co-operation. In addition, exhibition areas will be set up to display wood products and small timber building materials.

For more information about the GLSTF 2024, please visit the official website: http://www.glstf.net/. For registration, please scan the attached QR code.