Ghana has launched an awards ceremony to celebrate the best of its timber industry.

The awards, organised by the Forestry Commission of Ghana, will feature 19 categories including Overall Best Exporter, Best Exporter Lumber, Best Exporter Rotary Veneer, Best Exporter Sliced Veneer, Best Exporter Curl Veneer, Best Exporter Mouldings, Best Exporter Furniture, Best Exporter LUS, Best Producer Quality Products, Best Producer Logs, Best Producer Domestic Market, Most Innovative Company, Best Bank, Best Shipping Company, Best Overall Buyer, Best Buyer LUS, Best Buyer Tertiary Products, as well as individual recognition and institutional categories.

It will be themed 100 Years of Forestry: Projecting Excellence in a Complex and Challenging Industry, in honour of the Forestry Commission’s 100th anniversary.

“This year marks 100 years since the colonial government invited HN Thompson, an Englishman, with the Nigerian Forestry Service, to help establish a forestry department in the country,” said Professor Nii Ashie Kotey, chief executive officer of the Forestry Commission, said in a statement.

“So far, the role the forestry sector has played in the socio-economic development of this nation cannot be over-emphasised.”

The awards will be held in Kumasi on November 29.

This year’s TTJ Awards were held in London on September 18. To find out who won, visit www.ttjonline.com/winners.