GETAH: Rubber industry players need to diversify into non-medical areas to remain relevant, says Zuraida
KUALA LUMPUR (June 7): Rubber industry players need to diversify into non-medical areas to continue to be among the main contributors to the economy moving forward, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said.
She said during the Covid-19 pandemic, Malaysia emerged among top global exporters of medical rubber gloves due to the country’s ability to meet growing demand.
“During the Covid-19 time, our commodities were doing well, whether it's palm oil, rubber, timber, pepper or others. Our rubber glove production became the number one in the country because of the pandemic.
“But now that the pandemic is over, we can diversify a bit and move into non-medical areas,” she said at the launch of the Global Funding for Rubber Innovation (GFRI) here on Tuesday (June 7).
She said the Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC), through the GFRI, is providing a start-up fund of RM10 million as research grants.
“This research fund is open to all local and foreign researchers from various public and private research institutions, universities, institutions of higher learning and companies based in and outside Malaysia,” she said.
She said a special committee comprising industry and technical experts from the public and private sectors had been established to conduct technical and financial evaluations of research proposal papers that meet the requirements of the funding programme.
Zuraida said the GFRI’s main objective is to encourage the generation of ideas, innovations and inventions for rubber products and technologies with high commercialisation viability to attract investment in the Malaysian rubber industry.
“Industries, universities and research institutions are the nation’s best mind centres that have a pool of experts from various fields,” she said.
Therefore, she said researchers from various organisations play an important role in generating innovations that could contribute to economic prosperity.
“In this regard, Malaysia can use technical expertise from developed countries such as the US, Europe and Japan which have the potential to drive rapid technological development,” she said.
She said the ministry would continue to support rubber product development innovations with the potential to drive the country’s economic growth as well as be committed to ensuring that the rubber industry continues to remain competitive in the global market.
She added that Malaysia’s rubber products are now exported to 189 countries, with a growth of 50.6% to RM61.7 billion in 2021 from RM40.1 billion in 2020.
Themed “Fostering Ideas for the Rubber Industry Globally”, the GFRI is an initiative by the MRC to create a complete ecosystem to support the development of the rubber industry in related fields, such as research and development.
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/rubber-players-need-diversify-nonmedical-areas-remain-relevant-says-zuraida
Sumber: The Edge Markets
