Kok: Export earnings growth to continue
KUALA LUMPUR: The Primary Industries Ministry is confident export earnings from timber and timber products will continue to grow this year.
Minister Teresa Kok Suh Sim said export earnings from timber and timber products reached RM8.92 billion as of May.
“I am optimistic that the export earnings will continue to rise in tandem with the demand for green products,” she said before witnessing the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Malaysia Wood Industries Association (MWIA) and the Forestry Department of Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region of China, here, yesterday.
“As such, the ministry and its agencies will continue to facilitate the industry’s development through various programmes and initiatives.”
Also present were MWIA president Goh Chee Yew, Guangxi Zhuang forestry department director-general Huang Xian Yang and Malaysia Timber Industry Board director-general Datuk Dr Jalaluddin Harun.
The MoU aims to build an information sharing platform to carry out collaboration projects for the establishment of fast-growing plantations in Malaysia, as well as to promote technical exchange and training in afforestation and processing technology.
Kok also announced an additional target of 708ha to be developed under the forest plantation programme by year-end.
The local timber industry is a key contributor to the commodity sector with export earnings reaching RM23.2 billion last year.