17-19 September. Prosperity Initiative recently attended the world’s major annual bamboo conference. The triennial World Bamboo Congress took place in Bangkok and involved the participation of more than a hundred researchers, policy makers, bamboo enthusiasts and NGO representatives from 30 different countries.

John Marsh, Executive Director of Prosperity Initiative, was invited to speak at the session on Bamboo in Thailand and Southeast Asia. He presented on the Northwest Vietnam Industrial Bamboo Cluster and the cluster’s current and future potential impact on large scale poverty in Viet Nam and Lao PDR.

9-13 September 2009. Members of Prosperity Initiative’s Mekong Bamboo Team participated in this year’s VietBuild conference in Ho Chi Minh City. Over the last ten years, VietBuild has become Viet Nam’s biggest construction material exhibition. This year, more than 2,600 companies, ranging from material producers, construction companies, furniture manufacturers, designers and home décor consultants participated in VietBuild.

Prosperity Initiative held three launch events, composed of partner MoU signing ceremonies and value chain mapping workshops for their Bamboo Handicrafts projects in Cambodia and Lao PDR. The events took place in Kampong Chhnang province, Cambodia on 11 September, in Vientiane Province on 15 September and Champasak province, Lao PDR on 25 September.

12-16 July - A delegation of experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Rome was recently hosted by Prosperity Initiative to establish the feasibility of the Bamboo Carbon Trade Project in North-West Vietnam. The delegation included advisors from INBAR (The International Network for Bamboo and Rattan) to provide carbon and bamboo science expertise and Eco-Securities, a major carbon trade brokerage firm to ascertain the viability of various carbon trade options in the industry.