MALAYSIA: Rubber product exports up to RM17.99 billion last year

Exports of Malaysian rubber products grew exponentially from RM5.4 billion in 2000 to RM17.99 billion last year, said Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council (MREPC) Chief Executive Low Yoke Kiew.

Low said the products were exported to more than 190 countries worldwide, adding that MREPC has been diligently playing its role of promoting Malaysian-made rubber products worldwide. She was speaking at a ceremony to mark MREPC's donation of one million gloves to the Sarawak Health Department in Kuching on 3 Mar 2016, officiated by MREPC Chairman and Sebuti MP Ahmad Lai Bujang representing Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Douglas Uggah Embas.

The gloves will be distributed to all healthcare facilities and services including hospitals, health clinics, dental clinics, mobile health teams and flying doctor services.

Low said Malaysia is also the world's leading supplier of medical gloves (examination and surgical gloves), Foley catheters and condoms. On the domestic front, she said MREPC has been actively organizing nationwide glove awareness programs for healthcare workers to promote glove usage and raise awareness on the need to use personal protective equipment to help protect against infectious diseases. "These programs are organized with the intent of increasing the per capita consumption of medical gloves in Malaysia which is currently around nine pairs per year. […] This is a very small figure compared to developed nations where the healthcare standards are high, with the per capita consumption of gloves at 80 pairs and 50 pairs a year in the United States and the European Union respectively," she said.

Source: Bernama (National News Agency of Malaysia), Kuala Lumpur; 3 Mar 2016
(Syed Rashid Ali, Karachi, Pakistan)