The PEFC Asia Promotions Initiative works to advance awareness and uptake of PEFC Certification throughout Asia. The initiative focuses on two levels.

• Firstly, to ensure companies can source and produce certified forest products, we conduct a wide range of business outreach activities to expand Chain of Custody certification throughout the region.
• Secondly, where needed, we offer technical support to organizations developing national forest certification schemes.

Overseeing the work of the Asia Promotions Initiative is an Advisory Group comprised of representatives from interested PEFC Members, Private Sector Companies, and PEFC International. Along with contributions from PEFC International, the Advisory Group contributes both in terms of financial and strategic support to the Initiative.

Until early 2011, the initiative focused primarily on activities in China and Japan, and it is through this geographic focus that offices are maintained in Beijing, China, and Tokyo, Japan. However, recognizing the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) within PEFC membership and the burgeoning interest of PEFC throughout Asia, the Initiative now conducts outreach activities in many additional countries.

China

PEFC China participates in many events to reach out to Chinese stakeholders about the importance of sustainable forest management:

PEFC China contributes to numerous seminars, conferences, and workshops held in China. Recent highlightss have included participation at the China Pulp and Recycled Fiber Conference in Shanghai held by the China Forest and Paper Exectuive Club, the China Panel Furniture Development Forum in Changdu, and the "Forests, Markets, Policy and Practice – 2010 China" Conference in Bejing.

PEFC China Promotions also contributes regularly to events organized by the Chinese State Forestry Administration (SFA) such as company visits to Hainan to evaluate the impact of forest certification practices, an internal SFA workshop for senior professionals to discuss forest certification, and a bilateral workshop in Beijing held by Chinese and Finnish governmental authorities.

Furthermore, PEFC China holds promotional seminars for representatives of the paper, packaging and publishing sectors - with two succesful events in Beijing and Hong Kong in 2011. Some training seminars have been organized for companies, auditors and staff from the China Forest Certification Council to provide information on PEFC Chain of Custody and Forest Management certification. Ongoing support is also provided to the Chinese Forest Certification Scheme (CFCS) in terms of both training and standards development.

In this way PEFC China has reached out to dozens of companies operating in the pulp and paper, printing and furniture sector.

Japan

PEFC Japan participates in many events and Japanese stakeholders have become more aware of the importance of SFM:

Representatives of the printing and timber processing sector and general public have attended various PEFC Japan seminars and networking events.

PEFC Japan has also exhibited at events such as the Eco-Products 2010 Fair, the Biodiversity Expo 2010 in Osaka, and the COP 10 Bio-diversity Interactive Exchange Exhibition in Nagoya.

Furthermore, pursuing their mission of increasing awareness and knowledge of PEFC, PEFC Japan has given a number of lectures, some at the request of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and others for numerous private sector companies.

Finally, PEFC Japan organized direct outreach meetings with private sector companies, particularly those operating in the pulp and paper and printing sectors. Thus with the support of PEFC International and the PEFC Asia Promotions Advisory Committee, PEFC Japan has already presented itself to hundreds of companies operating in Japan.