The Global Legal & Sustainable Timber Forum (GLSTF) 2023, co-hosted by the Macao Trade and Investment Promotion Institute (IPIM) and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), will be held on 21-22 November at the Galaxy International Convention Center, on the theme “Connect, Cooperate and Share to Promote the Recovery of the Global Tropical Timber Market”. It is the first forestry-themed conference held in Macao.
GLSTF 2023 will convene government officials from forestry departments of different countries, delegates of timber industry giants at home and abroad, accreditation authorities, experts and researchers to engage in constructive and pro-active exchanges and dialogues on topics such as the development trend of the timber industry, trade co-operation and sustainable development through a series of forums, business matching sessions, forestry-themed exhibitions and other supporting activities, so as to build a showcase for the achievements and innovations of the timber industry as well as facilitate multi-lateral co-operation.
Two major research outputs of the timber industry to be released for the first time during GLSTF 2023
During GLSTF 2023, outputs of two major international collaborative research projects, namely “About the Construction of the Global Timber Industry Index Platform” and “Research on the Collaborative Operations of the Blockchain-Based Timber Traceability System”, will be released.
The Global Timber Index (GTI) Platform aims to provide stable, transparent and predictable trade information and data on timber products, thus enhancing the exchange and trade collaboration among timber industry stakeholders, including producers, buyers, processors and market players, with a view to creating legal and sustainable green supply chains for timber products.
The “Research on the Collaborative Operations of the Blockchain-Based Timber Traceability System” aims to develop a digital system for timber traceability, enabling users to track the supply and use of timber, which will improve the transparency and authenticity of data, and ensure the safety of timber product consumption.
Contribution to talent cultivation in scientific research and other professional sectors in Macao
According to Associate Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the University of Macau Cai Tianji, who participated in the follow-ups of the research project – “Construction of the Global Timber Industry Index Platform”, it is a pleasant and valuable experience for local research teams to work with an international organisation for the first time, it has sharpened the comprehensive research and communication skills of local academic teams. During the whole research process, constant mutual communication is essential and helps them further understand the operation mode and needs of the international organisation, so that they can sort out key information from numerous research data, and finally achieve the common goal of both parties.
Cai said that after the early efforts of both parties and more than 40 hours of analysis and comparison conducted by the research team, the team has initially succeeded in establishing a model and adjusted the data collection method of the timber industry. He suggested that economic indicators such as customs import and export data could be used to more accurately estimate the changes in the inventory capacity of timber index.
Optimistic about the academia’s in-depth participation in the development of Macao MICE industry in the future
Cai noted that Macao is an international stage that embraces its fusion of Chinese and Western cultures and unique advantages as the platform between China and Portuguese-speaking countries. Coupled with its excellent MICE hardware and software facilities as well as the active support of the academic circle, he believes that the holding of GLSTF 2023 in Macao is just a start, and more international organisations will choose Macao to hold specialised conferences or events for releasing international indices in the future.
For details of GLSTF 2023, please visit http://www.glstf.net/.
