Malaysia is on the right track with its current initiatives in sustaining the environment, while developing its economy
at the same time, said the new European Union (EU) Ambassador and Head of Delegation to Malaysia, Luc Vandebon.

"Malaysia is taking the right initiatives and I am confident you're doing a good work here.

"If a country develops economically with the speed like what is taking place in Malaysia you have to keep a close watch on what is happening with this development in terms of sustainability and environmental impact," he told Bernama in an interview.

Vandebon said the 27-member bloc, which created its first environment five-year action plan in 1974, has been at the forefront of the fight against climate change ever since.

"Some of our partners may find our views far-sighted, but we want to do our best in fighting climate change and this issue does not stop at any border," he said.

On the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) under the EU's coming Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) programme, he said a meeting was held recently between the EU's Commissioner Janez Potocnik and Malaysian Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

The FLEGT-VPA programme, a bilateral agreement between the EU and
timber-exporting countries, focuses on forestry governance and management and the harvesting of tropical timber.

"Negotiations started in January 2007 and are at an advanced stage. Several issues remain open. One of them is the geographic coverage of the VPA.

"We would like the VPA to cover the entire territory. However, we are concerned about Sabah and Sarawak, where there has been a request from Malaysia to have a VPA with Peninsular Malaysia alone," he said.

However, Vandebon said, this will be extremely difficult to 'sell' in Europe where an agreement needed to be ratified by the council of the member states as well as the parliament.

In addition, signing an incomplete VPA will raise a number of political questions, which will have a negative impact on the VPA, he said.

"We have come to a stage where we can envision signing a VPA with Peninsular Malaysia and Sabah, without including Sarawak at the moment.

"Sarawak will be joining at a later stage since the VPA with the peninsula alone would not work," he said, noting the move will be confusing as the percentage of timber imported from the two states was small.

He said Dompok was convinced that an arrangement will be made before year-end.

"Dompok's words have given us hope," he said.

Vandebon said the EU was impressed with Sabah's efforts in forest
management, stakeholder involvement and conservation of tropical forests.

"This could be a great example, not only for Malaysia, but for the rest of the region. Therefore, it is important for us to sign the VPA with Malaysia," he said.

The ambassador was in Sabah recently where he attended the "The Heart of Borneo" conference.

"I had a great opportunity to interact with the people I am currently dealing with and they are doing a fantastic job," he said. Bernama