Govt to continue facilitating furniture industry’s development
05 Mar 2024
The government will continue to facilitate the furniture industry’s development in terms of raw materials, productivity and design aspects through various initiatives and programmes, said Deputy Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Chan Foong Hin.
Likewise, the furniture industry should continue to work closely with the ministry and its agencies such as the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB), Malaysian Timber Council (MTC), and Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC), for the betterment of the industry and its exports, he said.
“I urge all industry players to continue working closely with the stakeholders throughout the supply chain and broaden the network to explore new (strategic) possibilities,” he said at the opening ceremony of the Export Furniture Exhibition (EFE) 2024 here today.
He added that such efforts would bring positive outcomes and lead to a better performance of the furniture industry in the future.
Besides, he also reckoned the furniture industry has been playing a prominent role in the timber sector.
“For 2023, the timber sector has exported RM21.85 billion worth of timber and timber products.
“Wooden furniture contributes RM9.1 billion of export value, (contributing) 44.11 per cent of the annual timber and timber product export,” he said, adding that timber has traditionally been the third largest commodity sector after palm oil and rubber.
According to Chan, timber is one of the eight commodities identified under the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030 (DAKN 2030) to be transformed in a more sustainable, competitive and market-oriented manner.
“It is to ensure they remain strong growth drivers of Malaysia’s economic growth. We target the export value of timber and timber products at RM28 billion by 2025 and RM32.8 billion by 2030,” he said.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Furniture Council president Desmond Tan said the council is hoping that the government would create a raw material hub for the furniture industry to ensure industry players can obtain their raw materials conveniently and affordably.
“This will assist in keeping the cost of the production as low as possible and preserve our competitiveness in the global market,” he added.
More than 400 exhibitors are participating in EFE 2024, which runs from March 4 till March 7.
Source: Bernama
