Sabah as catalyst for regional bio-hub

Tangau (center at front raw), Azhar, Ben Chong and Madayem took a group photos with speakers, pennelist and participants of SIBF2019

`SIBF 2019 to boost Circular Economy as sustainability factor for Sabah’s potential as catalyst for Malaysia’s vision as a regional bio-hub.’

KOTA KINABALU: Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM)  and POIC Sabah Sdn Bhd with the support from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI), State Government of Sabah today jointly organized the Sabah international Biomass Forum 2019 (SIBE2019) with the theme “Going Circular: Mobilizing the Biomass Sector for Sabah’s industrial Development  held at Shangri-La’s Tanjung Aru Resort & Spa here.

Highlighting the concept of Circular Economy for achieving sustainability in Sabah’s role as a biomass supplier and processor, the main objective of SIBF2019 is to help accelerate the integration of Sabah biomass industry players into the global biomass  and bio based supply chain, with the intention for the State to become a global player through international partnerships and collab  oration. 

SIBF2019 draws on the insights and expertise of industry players, researchers and experts to enlighten participants on the implementation of the Circular Economy, which is a regenerative economic system for elíminating waste through continual utilization of resources via recycling and re-purposing of used goods and material  that has borne substantial benefits to national economies, especially among countries in the European Union.

Encik Naser Jaafar, AIM’s Chief Executive Officer said, “The biomass sector, especially one that is substantially endowed such as that can be found in Sabah, is a prime sphere of  economic activity that can be strengthened by organizing it on the concept of a Circular Economy, where we use and re-use resources and products with the aim of extracting incremental usage throughout the supply chain, after the first use”. 

“I am confident that a Circular Economy model for Sabah’s bio-economy will be a successful plan since the State’s communities and industries exist among such an abundance of usable biomass supply, from individually-owned agriculture plots to State and privately owned plantations and timber concessions. 

If managed well, there can be no reason why a Circular Economy model cannot thrive in Sabah. “AIM will continue to work closely with POIC Sabah which is the key stakeholder in the implementation of the National Biomass Strategy 2020 (NBS2020) and consequently, the  Sabah Biomass Industry Development Plan (SBIDP) to further facilitate the development of biomass industry in Sabah.

POIC Sabah, the main driver for biomass industrialization in Sabah, said it appreciated the long-standing working relationship with AIM in realizing the biomass agenda.

“With the Sabah government having committed to making Sabah an industrialized state by 2030, the biomass agenda is expected to play a major role and pursuing its success has taken on greater urgency, “said Datuk Dr Pang Teck Wai, the Chief Executive Officer.

During the one-day  events, topics and issues were presented and discussed towards the objective of ensuring sustainability in the sector and provide the perspectives from local and international experts in addressing the potential of Sabah as the catalyst for Malaysia’s vision as a regional bio-hub, as well as the  State’s impacts on the global bio-based economy, particularly in the biomass space.

Sabah is fortunate to have an abundance of biomass feedstock and natural resources, giving the State a huge potential to become a strategic location in the overall biomass value chain and will open doors to biomass based investments in the region. 

Serving as a connective platform, the SIBF2019 gathers local and international stakeholders from the oil palm and forestry sectors (investors, local, regional & international entrepreneurs, policy makers, and other supporting government agencies) to network, share their experience and catalyse projects in the  biomass sector for Sabah and Malaysia at large. 

It is a business centric forum that focuses on implementation through partnerships and collaborations. 

SIBF2019 brings 25 speakers and panellists across the globe with expertise in various areas in the renewable energy sector, specifically funding, in state-of-the-art technologies, market trends, etc. 

These panellists are specially invited to present current innovative and thought-provoking models on how to develop and realize Malaysia’s own National Biomass Strategy 2020 (NBS 2020) at the same time benefitting the execution of the potential biomass downstream projects and activities in Sabah. 

The one day Sabah International Biomass Forum was also attended by Assistant Minister Trade and Industry, Sabah Azhar Datuk Haji Matussin and Ben Chong, Ministry of Trade and Industry’s permanent secretary Datuk Madiyem Layapan.