Abdullah delivers his closing remarks. — Photo by Chimon Upon

KUCHING: The just-concluded International Biomass Conference Malaysia (IBCM) 2017 is a success.

Malaysian Innovation Agency (AIM) chief operating officer Abdullah Arshad, believed so yesterday, attributing it not just to the high number of participants both local and international but also the many interesting thematic sessions and events in the open forum.

“But most importantly we managed to forge partnerships and obtain clarity on the direction and ways by which we can realise a vision set forth by Sarawak Biomass Industry Development Plan (SBIDP), putting high priority on the biomass agenda,” he said when closing the two-day conference at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here.

Abdullah asserted that the importance of Sarawak – the biggest state in Malaysia – cannot be overstated.

“The availability of 19 million tonnes of solid biomass from the palm oil sector, ability to cultivate multi biomass feedstock and push for a BioHub development in locations like Bintulu and Miri, could optimise its existing advantages of a centralised location, ever improving infrastructure through the Pan Borneo Highway and proximity to markets and elevate activities for existing value chains in Sarawak,” he explained.

According to him, SBIDP is and will continue to take an inclusive approach and accelerate efforts on rural transformation and development for Sarawak.

He said while the biomass industry had not been progressing as quickly as it should, the optimism remained as conversion technologies were maturing.

Furthermore, evolving partnership and business models would significantly bring down the mobilisation cost of biomass, creating the foundations to deliver an ecosystem that would help the industry flourish, he added.

“We agree with Jim Lane, the founder and editor of Biofuels Digest, that the three pillars for a successful ecosystem is the availability of cost effective feedstock, infrastructure and bio intelligence all of which Sarawak has the capability to excel.”

Abdullah was confident that collaborative actions, greater coordination on research, innovation and commercialisation efforts would accelerate the realisation of Malaysia’s biomass agenda.

“I believe that we all agree that we need to identify 2018 as a year for action to deliver real projects for Sarawak and Malaysia at large.We must keep the momentum going to strengthen Malaysia’s bioeconomy by maximising its overall potential in this sector, and this is especially important for key other states like Sabah, Johor, Pahang and Peark,” he said.

He then thanked all the sponsors for the conference in particular the Netherlands and South Korean government for the strong showing in the IBCM 2017.

“I believe the insights and thought-provoking discussions over the past two days have been both productive and useful.

“The work of this platform is one important strand in the collective challenge to realise a global movement towards a sustainable bioeconomy based on biomass,” he added.

The IBCM is an annual event which assembles stakeholders from the biomass industry, oil palm and timber sectors, forestry, agriculture, investors, local and regional entrepreneurs, government, policy makers, academia, research institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to share insight and explore business opportunities and partnership models to bring the biomass agenda to the next level.

Sabah is expected to host the conference next year.