ONE ON ONEproducts imported include plywood worth RM922 million mainlyfrom Indonesia and sawntimber worth RM514 million fromThailand.B&I: In your opinion, what other incentives and programmesthat could further develop, expand and consolidate the timberindustry in Malaysia?MK: In order to become a competitive industry, the Malaysiantimber industry players need to be independent and resourcefulin producing timber and timber-based products of world- classquality. For this reason, these companies should embraceIR4.0 manufacturing concepts by adopting automation andmechanisation to reduce their high dependency of foreignworkforce and labour intensive activities. Even though thisrequires additional injection of investment and capital butin the long run, these companies can greatly reduce theiroverhead costs, minimise foreign labour related issues suchas workers’ housing whilst at the same time improve theircompany’s productivity, efficiency and competitiveness in theirglobal marketplace. Further, with the government sets to rollout an exit policy to reduce the utilisation of foreign labour,these companies need to be well-prepared now to handle theworkload. Furthermore, encouragement towards increaseapplications of digital marketing and E- commerce as a newplatform to effectively promote and market their timber andtimber-based products is also essential to keep pace with thenew norms of today’s era of digital economy.In order to boost competitiveness in the internationalmarket, it is timely for the Malaysian timber industry playersespecially those in the furniture sector to shift from merelybeing Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) where theyare only manufacturing products based on their customers’orders. Hence, to increased value addition, they now need tomove towards becoming an Own Brand Manufacturer (OBM),producing their own signature designs and products unique toMalaysia and its quality at par with other international worldclass producers. This paradigm shift is vital in ensuring Malaysia’scompetitiveness and sustainability as a global furniture supplierto the world. Back in the good old days, Malaysia used to place6th in the world ranking but now, we have slid down to 10thplace! Therefore, it is time to change the way Malaysian timberindustrialists do their business to stay ahead of their globalcompetitors.Malaysian timber players should also undertake a moreaggressive collaborative and inclusive R, D and C efforts toenhance and promote alternative sources as raw materials i.e.bamboo, bio-composite products, agarwood, and engineeredtimber products, etc. These initiatives, along with the currentexpansive Forest Plantation Programme, will enable to ensure acontinuous supply of raw materials in the country.B&I: On the topic of COVID-19, how has the pandemicaffected the Malaysian timber industry, and the Malaysianbuilding & construction industry in general?MK: As with the other industries, the Malaysian timberindustry is badly affected by the current COVID-19 pandemic.When the first MCO lockdown was implemented from March toMay last year, the Malaysian timber industry was among thosethat are not allowed to operate at the time. Being an exportorientedindustry, border closures and the stop-work order hadcompletely disrupted the supply chain; slowdown in economicactivities in the country i.e. halting of construction projects, alsoput a huge dent in the demand for timber and timber-basedproducts. While there may be sufficient domestic supply, localmanufacturers are quickly running out of raw materials to fulfiltheir export delivery and consequently faced with hefty penaltyfor breach of business contract.So MTIB, through the Ministry, successfully pleaded ourcase to the Ministry of Health and the National Security Councilto allow the timber industry to operate during the lockdown.This was a big accomplishment for us as the timber industry isconsidered as a non-essential industry. Once we’ve received thegreen light, employees at MTIB worked tirelessly into the nightissuing approval letters to about 800 timber and timber-basedcompanies so they can remained open for business during thelockdown. Additionally, MTIB offered other initiatives such aswaiving of registration fees and waiving of rental fees for thosewho are leasing factories from us. Because of this, the timberindustry was able to pick up the pace again. Even though theinitial export percentage dropped by 16%, it is currently droppedby 4%! With the improvement in export of timber and timberproducts, mainly for the export of furniture to major markets likeUSA and China, MTIB is confident that we can achieve our targetof RM21.9 billion in export, which is just slightly lower than theprevious year.B&I: Moving forward, what do you hope to see happen forthe Malaysian timber industry for year 2021?MK: From what I’m seeing, I think we still have a long battleahead of us with regard to combating COVID-19 pandemic. Bethat as it may, the introduction of the new vaccine could be thecatalyst to jumpstart the world economy again. Even thoughit is business as usual for USA and China, our 1 st and 4 th majormarkets respectively, we believe that other markets would followsuit in the coming years. After all, based on the current trend,the global market usually picks up around the second quarter ofthe year so we’re confident to see more activities soon.20 Jan-Feb 2021 | www.b-i.biz
Jan-Feb 2021 | www.b-i.biz 21