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Chairman’s Message

Renowned as green gold, sandalwood is one of the most expensive types of wood in the world today. One kilogram of pure sandalwood oil is very well worth several hundred thousands of US dollars in the international market—hence its other name, liquid gold. Often used for medicinal purposes, this priceless commodity is also usually made into wood carvings, art, furniture, incense—the list goes on.

Sandalwood is highly valued due to its many uses and versatility, leading to its ever increasing market demand. However, wanton felling of trees has led to a sharp drop in production, exacerbated with the difficulty in cultivating, planting and growing sandalwood trees.

The experts at South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SCBG, CAS) have conducted half a century of research on the cultivation, plantation and growth of sandalwood trees. In 1980, the academy achieved scientific success, having improved the cultivation techniques of the best sandalwood species brought in from India. Later on, Dr. Ma Guohua’s technique of “rapid propagation by tissue culture of sandalwood” was granted an invention patent in China on 21 October 2009 (Patent number: ZL200710032982-2). Applied across in provinces and cities in Southern China, this well-received technique has been instrumental in successful plantation and growth of sandalwood trees.

As this is a lucrative business, the Group has identified the plantation and growth of sandalwood trees and the development of its downstream products as our key objectives. Having spent two years of intensive planning, we have successfully secured a technical cooperation agreement from China and the relevant patents needed. These factors, combined with an expert-led team, will put us in good stead to obtain plantation and growth results that have never been achieved in Malaysia.

We are pleased to announce that we have cultivated more than ten thousand sandalwood trees in our nurseries to date. The strength and size of these young sandalwood trees, coupled with the high cultivation success rate, are testament to the need for technology experts in this field. These young trees will continue to grow and appreciate in value. Although this cultivation result on its own is enough to profit the company, we are not just bent on making money. As we aim to help more people benefit from this valuable plant, we will continue to make progress in this field.

We plan to continue this progress by cultivating a million young trees every year. Half of these trees, along with their plantation and growth techniques, will be made available to the public; whereas the other half will be planted and grown on land allocated by the Group. This will be followed by the progressive completion of factories for downstream production, as part of the Group’s plan. Eventually, we hope to build a hugely successful sandalwood enterprise. It is our hope that these five objectives will be achieved upon fulfillment of our vision:

• 1. For the community: To create ten thousands of job opportunities for the sake of social stability.
• 2. For the nation: To attract a huge volume of foreign investment to prosper the country and her people.
• 3. For the environment: To contribute to environmental protection.
• 4. For mankind: To conduct continuous research and development on the medicinal uses of sandalwood in order to promote health and longevity.
• 5. For the individual: To help individuals who join the sandalwood industry obtain wealth, and in doing so creating a more egalitarian world

Various Malaysian government departments have expressed their unwavering support of the Group’s plans. As joint venture discussions take place, the Group seeks for cooperation from land owners. The sandalwood industry offers truly endless opportunities—the Group would like to extend this invitation to all interested individuals and parties.