A newly formed national committee has been tasked with driving the development of the oil palm trunk (OPT) industry, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong said.
He said the committee, comprising 18 government agencies across ministries, four timber industry players and three public institutions of higher learning, would step up activities and enhance the effectiveness of research and development in the value-added timber sector.
He said this in a statement after chairing the first meeting of the National Committee on the Oil Palm Trunk Development, which was aimed at coordinating and establishing its comprehensive action plan, here today.
As a result of the meeting, a comprehensive OPT development plan will be turned into a policy and guidance in developing future palm trunk-based products, especially in the furniture, wood panel and wood.
Mah said the holistic development plan, backed by a strong organisation, would be able to help in achieving the government’s target of transforming OPT into a new source of raw material.