MALAYSIA: Local medical institutions urged to use locally-made rubber gloves

Malaysian medical institutions which use imported medical rubber gloves should instead, use locally-manufactured gloves to help the country save on foreign exchange.

In giving this advice, Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said although Malaysia was the world's leading producer of rubber gloves and number one exporter of the product, the country last year imported rubber gloves worth RM301 million. He said some of the gloves were imported by Malaysian companies from their subsidiaries in Thailand and other countries for repacking and re-exported. Uggah said this in his speech text read by Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council (MREPC) chairman, Ahmad Lai Bujang, at the Donation of One Million Gloves Program organized by MREPC to the state health department in Kuching on 3 Mar 2016.

According to Uggah, Malaysia's export of rubber gloves accounts for 52 % of the total export of rubber gloves in the world and reaches more than 190 countries. He said that last year, the value of rubber glove exports was recorded at RM13 billion, an increase compared to the previous year. He said the success of Malaysia s medical glove industry could be attributed to the local manufacturers’ efficiency in producing quality products, and the tireless efforts of both the government and private sector in marketing and promoting the products.

“To maintain Malaysia s position as the number one exporter of rubber gloves in the world, we will continue our efforts to market and promote rubber medical gloves,” he added. Uggah said it was estimated that between now and 2020, the rubber glove industry planned to invest up to RM7 billion to further expand its production capacity, adding that the investments would also focus on enhancement of technology and automation which were critical in upgrading productivity and efficiency of the industry. "At the same time, these efforts will also go a long way towards reducing the industry's dependency on foreign workers."

Glove manufacturers in Malaysia employ over 41,000 workers at their factories, with foreign workers representing 71 % of the total workforce.

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