KUALA LUMPUR: Glove manufacturers should switch their focus and delve into the non-medical industry in order to make it much more lucrative and continue to thrive, Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) chief executive officer Nor Hizwan Ahmad said.
He said while gloves subsector remained the largest export revenue generator for the rubber industry, a decrease of 66.2 per cent, equalling to RM6.04 billion, was documented in the first three months of 2022.
"In order to enhance the competitiveness of the Malaysian rubber industry, the industry should think beyond healthcare, and we do not need to merely leverage on a pandemic as the industry has grown exponentially over the past decades," he said in a statement today.
Citing an example, Nor Hizwan said they can focus on the food and beverages (F&B) industry, where the utilisation of gloves had always been limited for the longest time.
However, he said there seemed to be an increasing trend for the past eight to 10 years within the industry due to the rising awareness among players and consumers alike taking cognisance of the fact that handling food revolved around the levels of cleanliness.
"Gloves even applicable to the semiconductor electronic industry to protect an electrical or electronic component from contamination," he added.
Focusing on resiliency, MRC currently facilitates local manufacturers in securing new markets and spreading their wings to the non-medical sectors.
Recently, MRC participated in the Food Safety Summit Conference & Expo 2022, in Rosemont, Illinois in the US to promote food handling gloves.
MRC also participated in the British Dental Conference and Dentistry Show 2022 at National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, UK as part of the initiative to promote high quality dental products including dental gloves, orthodontics elastics and dental dams.
The council said as for ongoing promotional activities globally, MRC was one of the agencies under the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities that has been mandated to lead in the organising of the Malaysia International Agri commodity Expo Summit or MIACES 2022.
The event, will be held on July 26 until July 28 in Malaysia International Trade and Exhibition Centre (MITEC), Kuala Lumpur.
It is expected that more than 20 countries' will be participating in the exhibition, conference, roundtable discussions, business-to-business meetings, industrial site visits and award dinner.
"The growth of the rubber industry is not only the interest of the council, but it also stands as a national interest - as long as the rubber industry survives, the nation will also prevail.
"My mission is to ensure the rubber industry is deemed sexy and appealing in the eyes of the beholder globally and no longer be limited as a sunset industry.
"Furthermore, I am very committed to ensure MRC will remain relevant in the development of the Malaysian rubber industry for the next 20 years to come – paving the path towards a high-value industry," said Nor Hizwan.