Northern Province Minister Brain Mundubile says the province has major investment opportunities in the forestry sector that include establishment of timber processing plants and Furniture Companies.

The Northern Provincial Minister says the establishment of forestry plantations, saw-mills, and carpentry shops are other investment opportunities that exist in the province.

Mr. Mundubile also observes the need to set up out-grower schemes for honey and beeswax production in order to help local entrepreneurs.

“Despite the great demand for forestry products, and its enormous potential in Northern Province, forestry is far from being developed. It is a well-known fact that the demand for Mukwa, pine and eucalyptus in the building industry, power, communication industries, paper manufacturing, etc. is very high both on the local and export markets,” he said.

He adds that the recent past the nation has seen a rise in the demand for a tree species known as Pterocarpuschrysothrix (locally called ‘Mukula’), which is exported to Asian countries mainly China and Thailand.

“Forests also provide the habitat for bee-keeping, ranching and many others. Northern Province, with its large tracks of forest land that lies untapped, has the potential for any type of investment in this industry,” Mr. Mundubile said.

He cites Kateshi Estate, which he says has started a nursery for indigenous and hard wood trees saying such initiatives will help in growing the forestry sector.