Sustainable Production of the Biomass Industries in Malaysia: Optimising Economic Potential and Moving Towards Higher Value Chain

December 2011

On 9 december, an official ceremony the SWITCH-Asia Project Biomass SP launched the EU -Asia Biomass best Practice Conference. The event attended by   Dato’ Leong Kin Mun, Technical Advisor of Biomass-SP Project, H.E. Vincent Piket, Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to Malaysia & Mr. Tang Kok Mun, Technical Coach of Biomass-SP aimed to raise awareness for the upcoming conference in May 2012.

The Biomass-SP project which was initiated in early 2010 has already entered its third year in 2012. Its inception in 2010 saw a lot of effort in creating awareness among the public especially the stakeholders involved. Among others, a series of Awareness Road Show Seminars were conducted in seven states in Malaysia, reaching out to more than 1000 biomass stakeholders comprising of local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), industry groups, government agencies, and research institutions and universities. 

In 2011, Biomass-SP kick-started the EU-Malaysia Biomass Entrepreneurs Nurturing Programme, also known as EUM-BENP. Under this initiative, 45 Malaysian biomass SMEs have been selected to participate in the aim of improving environmental and business performance via coaching and training services. The selected SMEs are active in the production of biocomposite, biofertiliser, biopellets, biocharcoal, biobriquette, biomass fibre, eco-product, biochemical, animal feed and green building material as well as development of biomass and biogas power plants, and greenhouse gas emission reduction projects through Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) or Voluntary Carbon Standard (VCS).

The project has conducted an EU-Malaysia Biomass Stakeholders Forum and Knowledge Exchange Session with biomass stakeholders from various sectors, i.e.; energy and non-energy, to gather useful inputs including information on concerns, constraints, best practices and way forward of the Malaysian biomass industry.

To increase the project visibility, seven Awareness Road Show Seminar (ARSS) were held across seven states in Malaysia to disseminate project information and the EU-Malaysia Biomass Entrepreneurs Nurturing Programme (EUM-BENP).

With the seven Awareness Road Show Seminar (ARSS), the project managed to reach out to more than 800 stakeholders and more than 200 stakeholders via participation in exhibitions organised by the industry and government. Besides disseminating project information, the purpose of this outreach exercise is to promote the EUM-BENP initiative among the biomass SMEs; the project will select 50 SMEs to be coached to improve the business and environmental performance with various capacity building programmes (CBPs) and advisory advice. The selection is conducted in an objective and transparent manner.

The project actively spreads the information concerning the importance of SCP to Malaysian biomass SMEs and introduction of green procurement opportunities by the EU, which eventually contribute to the climate change mitigation effort. When the SMEs are equipped with enough awareness and knowledge on the benefits of SCP implementation, then replication of SCP can be materialised.