BANTING: The government is targeting to export RM19 billion worth of timber products by 2025, said the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities.
Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said the ministry was committed in assisting the industry to be more pro-active and competitive.
“Malaysia is now among the top 10 furniture exporters in the world. Furniture exports from Malaysia hit RM10.41 billion in 2021 and among the main destinations were the United States, Japan, Singapore, United Kingdom and Australia,“ she said after visiting Dynamic Furniture Industries (M) Sdn Bhd here, today.
She said there was also great potential for the furniture industry this year with growing global demands following the move by most countries towards the endemic stage of Covid-19.
She said the local furniture industry was able to fulfil market demands as long as its needs for workers was met.
“This is because the rapid growth of the furniture industry depends heavily on skilled local and foreign workers.
“In this aspect, I appeal to those in the industry to strictly follow all guidelines on the standards set by the ministry to ensure the wellbeing of their workers,“ she said.
Zuraida said to further enhance global demands, she and a delegation from the ministry were constantly working to promote the nation’s commodities, including timber products through a series of promotions abroad.
The ministry was also organising the Malaysia International Agri-commodity Expo and Summit (MiACES) from July 26-28 to help further promote such products.
Apart from that, various programmes have been implemented by the agencies and councils under the ministry to assist the furniture industry.
Among them are the Wood Design Incubator Programme led by the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) which aims to develop more wooden furniture for the international market.
“MTC also introduced the Export Assistance Programme (EAP) last year following the Covid-19 pandemic, which offers incentives to timber industry players to help them with their sea transportation costs,“ added Zuraida.
