KUALA LUMPUR: The Primary Industries Ministry has undertaken various efforts in research and development (R&D) to enhance economic activities including the downstream activities for the rubber, timber, cocoa, pepper and kenaf industries.
Its Minister, Teresa Kok Suh Sim said in the rubber sector, for instance, the government had allocated RM100 mil last year to build 202.68 km of roads using cuplump modified asphalt, and has obtained the agreement of government agencies and the private sector to use local rubber products in infrastructure projects such as the East Coast Rail Link and projects carried out by Kuala Lumpur City Hall.
“This is to increase the use of local rubber in order to strengthen the income of rubber smallholders. This is in the wake of issues arising from the Sino-US trade war which also contributed to a drop in global rubber price,” she said when presenting her ministry’s report card on RTM’s “Bicara Naratif” programme recently.
To stabilise the rubber price, she noted, the Agreed Export Tonnage Scheme mechanism under the International Tripartite Rubber Council was implemented, and from January to November 2019, the value of rubber exports hit RM28.1 bil, with major importing countries being the US (24%), the European Union (21.2%) and China (17.7%).
Apart from that, the Malaysian Rubber Exports Promotion Council has allocated RM20 mil to assist small rubber companies undergo automation, of which RM4.2 mil has been disbursed for 10 projects under the first phase.
Meanwhile, for the pepper industry, Kok said the export value for January to November 2019 amounted to RM107.68 mil, with production totalling 31,590 tonnes and a total plantation size of 17,727ha.
She said although the country faced competition from other producers, among others China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Indonesia, the black pepper cultivated in Malaysia, especially those produced in Sarawak, are the most popular and well-known in the world.
“Looking at its huge potential, this year we are launching a Sarawak downstream pepper product and hope it will become a catalyst for the nation’s pepper exports, hence helping the pepper farmers most of whom are smallholders,” she added.
For the timber industry, Kok said the export value from January to November 2019 amounted to RM20.5 bil, while cocoa recorded RM6 bil in the same period.
As for the kenaf industry, two new fibre processing plants have been built, in Setiu, Terengganu, and Rompin, Pahang, with a capacity for an estimated annual production worth RM18 mil and RM1.25 mil respectively. The Rompin plant also has the capacity to produce brown paper valued at about RM3.6 mil annually. – Jan 28, 2020, Bernama
