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| Malaysia is on the right track with its current initiatives in sustaining the environment, while developing its economy at the same time |
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 16 (Bernama) --
Malaysia is on the right track with its current initiatives in
sustaining the environment, while developing its economy at the same
time, said the new European Union (EU) Ambassador and Head of Delegation
to Malaysia, Luc Vandebon.
"Malaysia is taking the right initiatives and I am confident you're doing a good work here.
"If a country develops economically with the speed like what is
taking place in Malaysia you have to keep a close watch on what is
happening with this development in terms of sustainability and
environmental impact," he told Bernama in an interview.
Vandebon said the 27-member bloc, which created its first environment
five-year action plan in 1974, has been at the forefront of the fight
against climate change ever since.
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| Luc Vandebon |
"Some of our partners may find our views far-sighted, but we want to
do our best in fighting climate change and this issue does not stop at
any border," he said.
On the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the EU's coming
Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme, he said a
meeting was held recently between the EU's Commissioner Janez Potocnik
and Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Tan Sri
Bernard Dompok.
The FLEGT-VPA programme, a bilateral agreement between the EU and
timber-exporting countries, focuses on forestry governance and
management and the harvesting of tropical timber.
"Negotiations started in January 2007 and are at an advanced stage.
Several issues remain open. One of them is the geographic coverage of
the VPA.
"We would like the VPA to cover the entire territory. However, we are
concerned about Sabah and Sarawak, where there has been a request from
Malaysia to have a VPA with Peninsular Malaysia alone," he said.
However, Vandebon said, this will be extremely difficult to 'sell'
in Europe where an agreement needed to be ratified by the council of the
member states as well as the parliament.
In addition, signing an incomplete VPA will raise a number of
political questions, which will have a negative impact on the VPA, he
said.
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| VPA Partner Countries |
"We have come to a stage where we can envision signing a VPA with
Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, without including Sarawak at the moment.
"Sarawak will be joining at a later stage since the VPA with the
peninsula alone would not work," he said, noting the move will be
confusing as the percentage of timber imported from the two states was
small.
He said Dompok was convinced that an arrangement will be made before year-end."Dompok's words have given us hope," he said.
Vandebon said the EU was impressed with Sabah's efforts in forest
management, stakeholder involvement and conservation of tropical
forests.
"This could be a great example, not only for Malaysia, but for the
rest of the region. Therefore, it is important for us to sign the VPA
with Malaysia," he said.
The ambassador was in Sabah recently where he attended the "The Heart of Borneo" conference.
"I had a great opportunity to interact with the people I am currently dealing with and they are doing a fantastic job," he said.
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