Indonesia Supports Sustainable Bamboo Industry in Fiji

Indonesia and Fiji are committed to strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, particularly in the sustainable bamboo industry.

IDXChannel - Indonesia and Fiji are committed to strengthening bilateral economic cooperation, particularly in the sustainable bamboo industry.

"Indonesia is also ready to provide capacity-building support to the government and relevant stakeholders, especially in identifying the needs and challenges of the bamboo industry in Fiji," Indonesian Ambassador to Fiji Dupito Simamora said in a media release, Friday (15/3/2024).

The Indonesian Embassy in  Suva initiated a seminar titled "Potential of Sustainable Bamboo Product Manufacturing Industry in Fiji" earlier this month.

The seminar featured two bamboo experts from Indonesia: Marzuni from Rosse Bambu in Sleman and Sukma Surya Kusumah representing the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) as speakers. 

Meanwhile, the speakers from Fiji were Paul Ade Iji and Shipra Shah from the Fiji National University. In addition to participants from the bamboo industry SMEs in Fiji, the seminar was also attended by representatives from the Ministries in Fiji and Indonesia (virtually), as well as representatives from the Fiji National University.

Prior to the seminar, the two bamboo experts from Indonesia had the opportunity to visit several bamboo forests in the villages of Sote (Tailevu province) and Vunidawa (Naitasiri province) accompanied by representatives from the Fijian Government, to identify the species or varieties available in each village, as well as identify products suitable for those bamboo species.

Various issues emerged during the seminar, including the importance of designing marketing strategies and improving the quality and accessibility of Fiji's bamboo products to the open markets, as well as commitment to further explore research cooperation in the bamboo sector between Indonesia and Fiji; holding capacity-building training; and designating Sote and Vunidawa as model bamboo villages for Fiji. (WHY)