BUMIPUTERA COMPANIES NEED TO COLLABORATE WITH NON-BUMI FIRMS TO STRENGTHEN TIMBER INDUSTRY – JOHARI

PUTRAJAYA, Feb 18 (Bernama) -- Bumiputera companies in the local timber industry need to collaborate with non-Bumiputera companies to expand their market share and strengthen their competitiveness, said the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.

He emphasised the importance of creating an ecosystem that can help Bumiputera companies compete, especially through a strong supply chain network.

"They (Bumiputera companies) need to collaborate with successful non-Bumiputera companies in our country because they have the supply chain. Many designs and ideas from these Bumiputera companies cannot be realised if we don't have a supply chain. We cannot work in isolation in this business world; business is universal," he told the media after attending the Bumiputera Empowerment in the Timber Industry Symposium today.

Johari said that as part of the government's commitment to empower Bumiputera entrepreneurs, the government, through the Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB), has allocated RM44.7 million under the 10th and 12th Malaysia Plans to provide high tech machinery to Bumiputera entrepreneurs. This initiative has benefited 175 entrepreneurs, with 319 units of machinery supplied.

Earlier, Johari reported that the export value of the country's timber products expanded 4.9 per cent to RM22.9 billion last year compared to 2023. He said the timber industry is the third-largest export contributor of agricultural products after palm oil (RM114.4 billion) and rubber (RM33.7 billion), with the United States, Europe, and Asia as the main export destinations.

The symposium, organized by the Bumiputera Timber and Furniture Entrepreneurs Association of Malaysia (PEKA) in collaboration with MTIB and the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC), was held following a stakeholder engagement session with Bumiputera entrepreneurs last year.

-- BERNAMA