17 May 2012
Canada's forestry industry says it will create 60,000 new jobs by 2020 as a result of a growth strategy unveiled on Thursday. The strategy is expected to generate an additional $20 billion in economic activity in the next eight years through expanded exports to emerging markets and a recovery in the United States.Catherine Cobden, interim president of the Forestry Products Association of Canada, said the sector had gone through a difficult few years following the collapse of the U.S. housing market in 2007 and the subsequent global recession.
She said the industry has used the downturn to become more competitive, energy efficient, and to shift its attention to markets in the faster growing emerging economies, particularly China and India. Sales to China in particularly have exploded, from a mere $32 million in 2001 to $1.5 billion last year, the association said.
Cobden said even with the recent cooling of China's economy, exports continue to rise.
By The Canadian Press, © Rogers Communications. To read the full story, click here.