KOTA KINABALU: The Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) has proposed that the Special Tasks Ministry come up with a new policy to develop the furniture industry in Sabah.
Its chairman Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau said currently most of the Acacia (wood) imported by Vietnam were from Sabah as the quality was much better compared to other parts of the country.
“Why should we export our Acacia to Vietnam when we can value-add our own raw materials to produce furniture?” asked Tangau when speaking to reporters after launching the state-level furniture design competition (Mobili 2013) at MTIB at Kota Kinabalu Industrial Park, yesterday.
“I am sure the state government is serious in looking at other potential developments in Sabah as a new ministry has been created to focus on various industries in the state,” added Tangau.
He stressed that the state government should be discussing with industry players to find a solution on how to develop the furniture industry to create more opportunities such as employment and business development for the locals.
Since Malaysia is the third largest producer of furniture in Asia, after China and Vietnam, Tangau said Sabah has the potential to be the hub for outdoor furniture in the country.
“I am confident that there will be a huge number of furniture industry players investing their money in the state, as long as we can come out with a specific policy to ensure our raw materials are enough for their business.
“Since the state government has created the Special Tasks Ministry, I think we are open to any proposal from the various sectors to start generating our economy to a higher level,” said Tangau.
Earlier in his speech, Tangau said the National Timber Industry Policy (NATIP) foresees that 60 per cent of the value of exports would be derived from the shipments of further processed timber products by 2020.
He added that the target was too far from the current 45 per cent, but is optimistic with the target if challenges posed to the timber industry in terms of raw material supply can be addressed.
He also hoped the MTIB programme, such as Mobili 2013, would be successful in producing new talents in the industry, but the focus should be beyond the competition.
“I am hoping Malaysia will be able to have its own brand, where we can produce our own products and exporting them to other countries,” he added.
Also present at the event yesterday was director of MTIB Industrial Development, Mahpar Atan.
Mahpar said Mobili 2013 is a platform for furniture designers in Malaysia to compete among themselves to allow MTIB to choose the best candidate to showcase their products at the annual International Salone Exhibition in Milan, Italy.
He added that MTIB was organizing Mobili 2013 to choose the best candidates from two separate categories, namely for student designers and industry players or working designers.
