The Senate Committee on Trade, Commerce and Entrepreneurship approved the development of bamboo industry of the Philippines which was also supported by the Department of Trade and Industry.
“Senate Bill No. 1240, or the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Act, firms up the legal standing of the Philippine Bamboo Industry Development Council (PBIDC) and include in its membership one representative each from bamboo farmers, manufacturers and processor associations,” report from Business World stated.
The said council is responsible for creating the development road map for the industry while all the existing programs which aim to improve the bamboo industry shall be harmonized by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA).
Moreover, the DTI backed the proposal by noting the proposal paper last September 2019 that the improvement of the industry in line with DTI’s thrust to revive the manufacturing sector.
DTI, Department of Science and Technology-Forest Products Research and Development Institute and Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau have on-going programs that are being implemented.
Based on the report, position paper last September 2019 suggested that the harmonized program should consider the following:
i) production and value chain of bamboo products
ii) research and development to address key challenges in the industry
iii) establishment of enabling mechanisms to promote investments in bamboo industry
Respectively, it was also stated that under the Bureau of Investments’ (BoI) Investment Priorities Plan for five years, the pioneer of the industry which are the nursery and plantation shall be given incentives.
Source: https://www.bworldonline.com/senate-panel-approves-bamboo-industry-devt-bill/