Agriculture Business Week

The World Bamboo Organization (WBO) is dedicated to promoting the use of bamboo and bamboo products for the sake of the environment and the economy. We play a crucial networking role by connecting people for useful collaborations on all things related to bamboo.

We are very excited by the great opportunity to organize the VIII World Bamboo Congress in Thailand in September, 2009. The dates will be set for 16-19 September, which coincides with the 113th Anniversary of the Royal Forest Department on the 18th of September.
This truly unique conference is the culmination of our efforts to physically unite bamboo enthusiasts and professionals from all over the world and especially throughout Thailand and south-east Asia. Since its inception in Puerto Rico in 1984, each World Bamboo Congress has convened a vast array of individuals, institutions, businesses, and decision makers, and has created new partnerships that have made a real difference for the environment and human communities around the world. The WBC in Thailand promises to be the most ambitious international bamboo event ever. It will be uniquely informative, educational, culturally and intellectually challenging. The event will highlight the state-of-the-art in bamboo science, technology and industry. It will be a forum to stimulate the dialog between researchers, entrepreneurs, industrialists, ecologists, and policy makers. It will help bridge the gap between supply and demand, need and fulfillment, producer and consumer, problem and solution.

As we all know, the world suffers amidst a difficult economic downturn, yet we must continue to work together to mend environmental degradation and improve networking to insure a better future for people and for bamboo. The cancellation of the planned VIII WBC to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2007 was not just a huge disappointment, but also proof that the bamboo community needs serious attention. Failure to capture sufficient funding means countries – not only corporate businesses – involved in bamboo business get left behind in the competition for a piece of the global market.

Therefore, we emphasize that this World Bamboo Congress needs true collaboration of all entities serious about elevating the great potential of bamboo, those who believe it to be a real answer to the world s current environmental challenges and economic necessities. Sponsorships will need to come from individual commitments, institutions that can provide in-kind support, and from.

You may visit www.worldbamboocongress.org for more details.