Jamaica Becomes INBAR's 38th Member Country

A flag-raising ceremony for Jamaica was held at INBAR Headquarters on April 5, 2012 to formally honor Jamaica’s accession to INBAR, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan. More than 60 delegates from 28 member country embassies, Chinese partner institutions as well as INBAR staff members attended the ceremony.

From left to right, H.E. Mr. Martin Mpana, Ambassador of Cameroon; H.E. Mr. Munshi Faiz Ahmad, Ambassador of Bangladesh; Mme. Yin Hong, Vice Administrator of China State Forestry Administration; Prof. Jiang Zehui, Vice Chair, Committee of Population, Resources and Environment, CPPCC and Co-Chair, Board of Trustees of INBAR; H.E. Mr. E. Courtenay Rattray, Ambassador of Jamaica; H.E. Siamelie Latu, Ambassador of Tonga; Dr. Coosje Hoogendoorn, Director General of INBAR. 

Speakers included Professor Jiang Zehui, vice chair, Committee of Population, Resources and Environment, CPPCC and co-chair, INBAR Board of Trustees; Mme. Yin Hong, vice administrator of China State Forestry Administration; Mr. Munshi Faiz Ahmad, ambassador of Bangladesh and representative of INBAR Council Chairperson; and Mr. E. Courtenay Rattray, ambassador of Jamaica.

There is much interest in developing a bamboo sector in Jamaica. Mr. E. Courtenay Rattray, ambassador of Jamaica, noted in his speech, “We anticipate that membership in INBAR will facilitate better management of our bamboo resources, develop livelihoods, improve our housing and poverty alleviation strategies, and provide access to bamboo processing technologies and production systems.” In May 2010, Jamaica participated in an INBAR-lead ministerial workshop on Bamboo and Rattan Sector Development. Since then, Jamaica has established a Bamboo Advisory Committee with the following mandate: to develop pilot projects, studies and prototypes using technology transfer models developed by INBAR; develop policy and ethic documents for the nascent bamboo industry in Jamaica; and prepare a national bamboo industry plan. With Jamaica’s admittance to INBAR, plans are already underway for Jamaica to learn from Chinese bamboo and rattan standards, boosting Jamaica’s ability to produce quality bamboo products ranging from bamboo flooring to toothpicks and bamboo charcoal.

The accession of Jamaica as the 38th member of INBAR takes place in a very special year— INBAR’s 15th anniversary year. In the past 15 years, the number of INBAR member countries has increased from 9 to 38. This growth is a testament to the fact that more and more countries and governments accept the goals and mission of INBAR.

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