FOREST MARKETING BOOSTED BY $11.5 MILLION

PRINCE GEORGE – A record $11.5 million of provincial funding is being invested this year in marketing initiatives to maintain British Columbia’s position as a world leader in forest product exports, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today at the annual meeting of the Council of Forest Industries (COFI).

“Fully 85 cents of every dollar of sales of forest products comes from customers outside Canada,” Campbell said. “Maintaining our competitive edge in foreign markets is critical to protecting the thousands of jobs and resource communities that depend on the forest economy for their livelihood.”

B.C. is investing $9.9 million in a range of marketing, product development, and research activities through Forestry Innovation Investment (FII), a provincial Crown agency. Highlighted activities for the upcoming year include:

· Hosting the Global Buyers’ Mission at Whistler to connect 200 international buyers with more than 80 of B.C.’s value-added manufacturers;

· Continuing aggressive market development strategies in the Asia-Pacific, including more use of wood-frame construction in Japan, Korea and China; and

· Boosting Western Red Cedar sales in Europe, Japan, China and Australia.

Campbell also announced that FII is investing $1.59 million in research and market development projects for lodgepole pine attacked by the mountain pine beetle. The 18 projects include:

· Adapting pulp bleaching processes to use bluestained wood chips;

· Determining the optimum processes for producing ethanol and other bio-fuels; and

· Investigating protective coatings for soy-oil treated exterior siding and bluestained lumber for home construction.

“These projects are an integral part of the Province’s Mountain Pine Beetle Action Plan,” said Forests and Range Minister Rich Coleman. “They focus on getting the maximum value out of every beetle-attacked tree cut, and marketing beetle wood products to the world.”

Since 2002, Forestry Innovation Investment has worked in partnership with forestry associations to promote B.C.’s sustainable forest practices and forest products internationally. FII’s investments have:

Launched a major campaign in China to increase wood use and raise the profile of B.C. and Canadian products. Chinese officials are beginning to adopt Canadian building standards and are increasing wood use in the multi-billion dollar renovation and housing market.
Supported COFI in growing the 2X4 housing market in Japan to a record 105,000 housing starts last year and a 12 per cent increase in wood exports.
Funded efforts by COFI to update the Japanese fire code to allow multi-storey wood frame structures, leading to construction of 450 new multi-storey buildings.
Invested $3.6 million in research into mountain pine beetle related products and manufacturing processes.
Funded research that developed a new kiln-dried product for coastal Hemlock in Japan, B.C.’s largest market after the United States. The kiln-dried wood is gaining widespread recognition as a high quality and environmentally friendly building product.

“Through research to find new markets for B.C. wood products, assistance in dealing with foreign trade barriers, and direct funding of promotional campaigns, FII is a strong and supportive partner of the B.C. forest sector,” said John Allan, president and CEO of COFI. “Their mountain pine beetle research is particularly helpful for maintaining the competitiveness of our sawmills and finding profitable uses for impacted wood.”

FII projects are selected through a competitive tendering process. Projects are evaluated by a team of experts from the forest sector.

-30-

2 backgrounder(s) attached.
Media contact:	Mike Morton Press Secretary Office of the Premier 250 213-8218	Jennifer McLarty Public Affairs Officer Ministry of Forests and Range 250 387-4592

For more information on government services or to subscribe to the Province’s news feeds using RSS, visit the Province’s website at www.gov.bc.ca.