BEIJING, July 24 (Bernama) -- After four years of successful trials in China, Ecofuture Bhd is finally poised to begin the marketing of its environment-friendly mat made wholly from oil palm residue.

Ecofuture Bhd and the Beijing Forestry Society sealed a memorandum of understanding in the Chinese capital Monday to form a joint venture for the commercial marketing of its fibre product called Ecomat

Ecomat was tested in areas outside Beijing and four provinces. It was found effective in reducing sand movement and dust pollution, and nutrients from its oil palm waste content helped rehabilitate waste land and to allow for replanting of crops.

The agreement was witnessed by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui on the sideline of a seminar on Ecomat research and promotion organised jointly by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Beijing Municipal Bureau of Parks and Forestry.

Signing on behalf of Ecofuture Bhd was its managing director Yeo Kim Luang, who suggested the product to Beijing forestry officials after encountering a sandstorm during a visit to the Chinese capital four years ago.

The Beijing Forestry Society was represented by its executive president Gan Jing, who is also deputy director-general of the General Office of Capital Afforestation Commission.

Yeo said Ecofuture Bhd and the Beijing Forestry Society will each invest 500,000 yuan (RM230,000) in the yet to-be-named joint venture company.

"For a start, I think the demand in China will be about 200,000 sq metres a month. Supply is not a problem for us because apart from our plant in Segamat, Johor we also work with other production partners," Yeo said.

The Segamat factory currently produces 200,000 sq metres monthly for demand outside China including Malaysia's own domestic market. Over the past four years, Ecofuture had supplied a total of 1.2 million sq metres of the mat for the trials in China.

The trials were supported by MPOB.

Wang Xiao Ping, director-general of the Beijing Forestry Department of International Cooperation, said Ecomat had been an unexpected success.

However, he asked authorities from both sides to look into reducing its price of Ecomat which is now 4 yuan per sq metre (1.8 sen).

In response, Yeo hoped the Chinese government would consider lowering the 30 per cent import tax to make it cheaper to import Ecomat.

-- BERNAMA