Nation’s first by McCorry

Arun (centre) presents the GFTN certificate to Jonas (right), while Zainal looks on

KOTA KINABALU: The McCorry Group of Companies became the first international group to support responsible forestry by joining the Malaysia Forest and Trade Network (MFTN).

The company signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with WWF-Malaysia yesterday, signalling its commitment to implement a responsible environmental policy.

It formally joins a growing league of companies worldwide that are committed to responsible purchasing of timber products, said WWF Malaysia’s conservation director, Dr Arun Venkataraman.

Speaking at the ceremony, Dr Arun explained that the MFTN, an initiative funded by its members and the European Commission, is the Malaysian Chapter of WWF’s Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN).

This is a worldwide partnership between companies committed to eliminate illegal logging and to improve the management of valuable and threatened forests.

“WWF-Malaysia constantly looks for ways to incorporate environmental awareness into the corporate sector by being as practical as possible.

“The MFTN is a means of improving business by reducing risks and by being as transparent as possible in purchasing policy,” he said.

He also said that McCorry is working closely with the suppliers in Borneo, and that they hope the company’s commitment will be the driver for Borneo’s forest managers to look into sustainable forest management.

And following the signing with seven new participants in this year, including one of the forest management unit in Sabah that commit towards FSC certification, McCorry is the latest participant of the MFTN, he said.

The McCorry Group is a European based timber trading group with its international Operational headquarter in Malaysia.

It has seven subsidiaries and exports products to the USA, Canada, Mexico, China, Australia, Middle East, West Africa and Europe.

The company was certified under the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) chain of custody (COC) in 2002.

Also present to launch the event were Sabah Tourism Board chairman, Tengku Zainal Adlin and McCorry Group of Companies, Chief Executive Officer, Jonas Israel.