Originally posted on the Coast Forest Products Association website.
This fall, Coast Forest Products Association was once again part of a 10-day Forestry Asia Trade Mission led by Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations (FLNRO) Minister Steve Thomson. The Province’s focus for this mission was to further broaden and enhance market diversification for the B.C. forest sector across global markets.
More than 25 senior executives from provincial forest companies and associations toured Japan and China amplifying the latest efforts to maintain and expand the industry’s overseas market reach as well as strengthen key Asian markets.
Among the places the group visited in Japan was the Tohoku region where they viewed the progress made on reconstruction since the 2011 earthquake devastated the region. At that time, the governments of Canada and British Columbia, along with 14 forest companies, contributed a total of $4.6 million to rebuilding key public buildings with Canadian wood products. In China, the group went to Shanghai, Beijing and Nanjing where they spoke at the second annual Sino-Canada Wood Conference where discussions with industry executives and government officials on advancing wood design systems.
B.C.’s top five lumber customers by volume are the U.S., China, Japan, Taiwan, Philippines and South Korea.
This mission would not have been possible without financial support from the Government of Canada through Natural Resources Canada and the B.C. government through FII.
