THE entire Malaysian furniture industry is on the verge of collapsing unless it is allowed to resume operation soonest.
Such is the view of the Malaysian Furniture Council (MFC) which is appealing to the Government to allow the timber and furniture industry to resume operations without further delay.
Ever since the implementation of the full movement control order (FMCO) and overall Phase 1 of the National Recovery Plan from June 1, the timber industry has suffered losses in excess of RM6 bil while the furniture industry alone lost more than RM1.6 bil with the figure still on the rise.
The current scenario is such that not only are overseas buyer forced to source their products from other countries, there is also a hefty lawsuit or compensation demand awaiting local industry players, according to MFC president Khoo Yeow Chong.
By cancelling and re-booking containers for Malaysian orders without a concrete delivery timetable, this escalates the foreign buyers’ already high shipping fees, thus prompting them to forsake Malaysian manufacturers for good.
This will thus deprive industry players with revenue which will make them unable to pay their workers’ wages while raising the likelihood of them having to shut down their operations.
Moving on to the issue of foreign workers, Khoo said the delay of a re-opening will result in future severe manpower shortage has resulted in many skilled foreign workers being aggressively touted by agents to work in sectors now allowed to operate.
Such highly sought-after skills are not easily replicated and will take time and effort to groom and train a fresh worker.
“Therefore, in addition to the six Peninsula states (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak, Perlis and Penang), we appeal to the Government to allow other states which have a low COVID-19 infection case to enter Phase 2 as quickly as possible,” noted Khoo in a media statement.
“Additionally, the industry also appeals to the Government to allow a 100% on-site attendance for factories that have received its second vaccination dose.”
Khoo added that employers will then seek their respective panel doctors to oversee the well-being of their workers with all costs to be borne by the employer themselves.
Meanwhile, MFC secretary-general, Matthew Law viewed recent concerns raised by the German, Japanese and Dutch business representatives over the continued closure of the Malaysian economy “as serious to avoid the loss of critical foreign direct investments at this critical period.”
Towards this end, six major timber associations have jointly organised and collected 3,574 petitions from upstream and downstream players which were then submitted to the Prime Minister and National Security Council (MKN) to appeal for a re-opening of the timber industry as soon as possible.
The six associations comprised MFC, the Malaysian Panel-Products Manufacturers Association (MPMA), Timber Exporter’s Association of Malaysia, Malaysian Wood Moulding & Joinery Council, Malaysian Wood Industries Association and the Association of Bumiputera Timber and Furniture Entrepreneurs. – July 13, 2021
