British Columbia Forests Minister Ravi Parmar says the province could be selling more wood in the Middle East among other emerging markets to curtail its dependence on the United States.
Parmar announced an additional $12 million for the Crown agency that markets lumber products around the world on Monday while at a custom-door manufacturer in Burnaby, B.C.
He says the funding will allow Forestry Innovation Investment to develop "new markets and new relationships" for B.C. forest products.
While B.C. has been targeting Asian markets like Japan, South Korea, and China, Parmar says the agency is now looking to other markets in Asia, along with the United Kingdom, North African countries and Mexico.
The minister says of "one of the areas of interest" for the provincial government is the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia and Dubai.
Parmar says the outreach to new markets is part of a larger strategy to make B.C. less dependent on lumber exports to the United States.
Paul Choi, Parliamentary secretary for trade, said during Monday's announcement that the government made a commitment to ensure forestry workers are never again put in the position of relying mostly on the U.S. market.
"So, we got to work immediately to diversify our forestry economy, finding new trade partners, new markets and new opportunities across the globe."
The announcement comes weeks before the start of a trade mission by Premier David Eby to China, and amid additional demands from B.C. to Ottawa for support for the softwood lumber sector.
The federal government last week announced $1.5 billion in support for various industries impacted by U.S. tariffs, but that did not include support for B.C.'s softwood lumber industry.
The exclusion drew criticism from Eby, who demanded that Ottawa also support the softwood lumber industry.
The federal government's announcement did include the promise of additional supports for the industry.
Parmar said government hopes in the coming days, weeks and months, that it will see "serious federal investments" to help B.C. truly transform the forest sector, "away from boom and bust to stability and certainty."
Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chad Hipolito
