The investment TCCI is after lies in manufacturing products from start to finish, as raw products are produced in the state but often need to be exported to reach their final stage.

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TCCI chief executive officer Michael Bailey said this approach already happened with salmon.

"We need to think of that in Tasmania for everything else we do," he said.

"So for things like dairy ... I'd like to see milk condensing plants in Tasmania producing a formula level milk powder. We should be doing that here.

"What we'd like to see... is a greater focus on our engineered timber products. What we can't forget is that our traditional industries are key to Tasmania, the case where employment that caters to our economy.

"We need to take a fresh look at our traditional economic strengths and look to boost those while we help the tourism and hospitality sector recover.

"Our traditional economic strengths - agriculture, forestry, fishing and aquaculture, mining and mineral processing, and renewable energy - are the key to our state's success in 2021."

Mr Bailey said they were calling on the government and parties to support a plan to achieve this by backing traditional industry.

"Combined these sectors account for 10 per cent of all jobs in the state, nearly all of the $3.5 billion in commodity exports for the 12 months ending October last year and truly is the engine room that powers our economy and supports a large part of our business sector," he said.

"As our state looks to economic recovery from the COVID pandemic, we should be looking to leverage and support these sectors to expand and grow."

Tasmanian Forest Products Association chief executive officer Nick Steel supported the TCCI's calls and said the potential for the wood industry in the state laid in manufacturing products.

"The forest industry is really looking at that downstream processing," he said.

"As an industry, we're across plantations and native forest. We really need that additional support to consider options to process on island, or even in Australia. There is a lot of things out there for the wood, whereby instead of exporting we can look at actually processing it on island."

He said in 2020 parts of the economy really suffered, but this was a way to rebuild.

"We can make an economic comeback this year though, but only if we get behind traditional industries/ Already, forestry employs 5700 Tasmanians directly and indirectly. That's nearly 6000 families in Tasmania that our industry supports," he said.

"While some sectors will need time to regain lost ground, forestry can help drive the economic comeback that Tasmania needs and support those sectors that are doing it tough."

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