"We are optimistic that investment in the forestry sector will increase. The area of forest and land fires is declining, and good peat management becomes the starting point for the forestry business sector to improve its performance in 2019," APHI Chairman Indroyono Soesilo said here on Tuesday.
According to him, one indicator of increasing investment in the forestry sector is the strong foundation of upstream sector performance in 2018, as indicated by the rise in log prices, the positive trend of national timber production, and the increasing number of sustainable production forest management certificates.
Data on log production show that as of September 2018, the Business License for Utilization of Timber Forest Products reached 5.6 million cubic meters or exceeded the realization in 2017 of 5.4 million cubic meters.
Meanwhile, until September 2018, the production of Industrial Plantation Forests reached 29.6 million cubic meters, up 78 percent compared to that in 2017.
"It is estimated that the production of Industrial Plantation Forests can exceed the previous year," Soesilo noted.
The performance of the Business License for Utilization of Timber Forest Products has also increased, as indicated from the number of Sustainable Production Forest Management and Verification of Timber Legality certificates, both mandatory and voluntary.
The number of Sustainable Production Forest Management and mandatory Timber Legality Verification certificates under the Business License for Utilization of Timber Forest Products in Natural Forests rose from 121 units to 131 units, while the number of voluntary Sustainable Production Forest Management certificate rose from 24 to 26 units.
Indroyono added that the association has collaborated with PNORS Technology in developing an online marketing and trading system for forest products based on Timber Legality Verification System, in the form of forest products exchanged called Indonesia Timber Exchange system.
"This system has been refined and is ready to facilitate APHI members and the forestry industry or exporters in marketing wood and processed-wood products to domestic and world market networks," he remarked.
Processed-wood products also have the potential to greatly increase export performance and increase foreign exchange as almost all raw materials are from local resources.
Reporting by Indriani
Editing by Libertina W Ambari
Reporter: Antara
Editor: Yosep Hariyadi
Copyright © ANTARA 2018
