RUBBER EXPORTS SEEN TO HIT RM140 B THIS YEAR

Govt will also come up with solutions to tackle forced labour issues, says minister

RUBBER and rubber product exports are expected to increase to RM140 billion this year compared with RM71 billion last year and RM49.2 billion in 2020.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said the rubber industry had seen encouraging performance from the tyre industry, with tyre exports increasing 30.5 per cent to RM1.7 billion last year compared with RM1.3 billion in 2020.

“Malaysia’s ex- port contribution of high-value goods and improvement in the export performance of dry rubber products as well as a boost in consumption had driven the increase in export performance,” she said after the launch of the International Rubber Industry Convention and Expo in Malaysia, here, yesterday.

Zuraida said the ministry was coming up with solutions to tackle allegations regarding forced labour issues in the rubber industry.

The ministry would work with associations and agencies to come up with the solutions.

It would be a continuous effort to expel these allegations and eradicate the forced labour issues plaguing the commodity sector, she added.

“This is the thing that we will work on together and we have to consolidate our narrative to the European Union and World Trade Organisation in a more concerted manner instead of doing it on an ad-hoc basis.

“We have to do it in a concerted manner where the ministry itself will play a role and consolidate the industry in representing the country.

“This is something we need to do, and that is to speak in one voice,” she said.