Following a visit to Tri Sun Sdn Bhd, a solid and engineered recovery wood factory located in Sungai Mau Forestry Industrial Area, Jia Zhibang in an interview with the Bulletin said, "I can say that Brunei is a country of 'Green Pearl' of the Asia-Pacific Region. It is such a beautiful and green country.
"I am very impressed with the conservation efforts of the Government of His Majesty (the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam). The government has attached great importance to forest resource management and also adopted a series of measures."
For example, he said, "I understand that the loggers (in Brunei) need to replant the trees which are felled. I think we should learn the good practices and policies adopted by Brunei in managing forest resources.
"It is because of the policies in place that I can see the beautiful blue sky, clean water and green forest," he added.
Describing the bilateral ties, he noted, "There is a long standing relationship between Brunei Darussalam and the People's Republic of China and these strong ties also involve forestry".
Touching on cooperation, he said, "Both China and Brunei are in the Asia-Pacific region and there is a huge potential for collaboration in sustainable forest management, the conservation and development of forest resources as well as the role in addressing climate change".
The Minister of State Forestry Administration of the People's Republic of China is in Brunei at the invitation of the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources to further develop bilateral friendship in the field of forestry.
At Tri Sun Sdn Bhd, Jia Zhibang planted a tree and visited the wood factory. Accompanying his delegation which included 16 officials from China was Awang Hj Saidin bin Salleh, the Director of Forestry Department.
Chan Hock Lay, the Director of Tri Sun, recalled Tri Sun achievements. "Tri Sun had a dream of downstream timber processing more than 15 years ago and bought its first German Moulder (Profimat 23) way back in 1993 to produce moulding on a small scale."
He said, "We were granted this piece of land in October 2006 and since 2008, we operate two 'thicknessers', five moulders, one unit of 'finger joint' machine and one unit of large lamination composer bracket for production of laminated 'finger joint' timber for local and export markets.
"We are currently producing about 2,000 pieces of solid/ engineered doors a month."
The Director of Tri Sun commended the government's effort in forest management, saying, "We are proud of Brunei's sustainable, managed forests with stringent policies on controlled cutting and replanting in 'plantable' areas for optimal future harvest from tree plantations."
He added, "We support Brunei's Forestry (Department) in planting more timber which is now a global trend requiring sustainable timber from plantations and sustainably managed natural forests.
"Timber plantations in the near future are an important source of wood for the survival and further development of wood-based industries. Not in big timber volume but reasonable consistent amount."