ASEAN NEEDS TO WORK HARDER TO ESTABLISH CONFORMITY BODY FOR BUILDING MATERIALS -- WORKS MINISTER

KUCHING, May 15 (Bernama) -- The recent earthquake disasters in Myanmar and Thailand had been indicators for ASEAN countries to work harder to establish the Conformity Assessment Body, which would ensure that building materials produced, imported and used are safe, of high quality and conformed to international requirements.

Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi said that with the signing of the Building and Construction Mutual Recognition Arrangement (BCMRA) in Cambodia on March 9 last year, he believed the commitment of ASEAN members will further strengthen the joint effort in providing holistic guidelines on construction materials standards.

“With that, I would like to take this opportunity to urge all working group members to expedite the process of ratification of the BCMRA for us to establish the Joint Sectoral Committee and smoothen the process of recognising and harmonising the standards," he said in his speech to welcome delegates to the 12th ASEAN Building and Construction Working Group (BCWG) meeting here on Wednesday.

The BCWG meeting was part of the programme under the International Construction Week (ICW) Borneo 2025. 

As professionals and experts dedicated to the development and maintenance of vital infrastructure, the working group discussions were pivotal to delve into best practices, innovative solutions and collaborative strategies to address the challenges and opportunities in standards of building and construction materials particularly and the whole industry as a whole, he said.

“The meeting has highlighted the importance of standards of construction materials within the region and the challenges in ensuring the materials used in our market will forever be vital as infrastructure is the life of every nation," he added.

He also noted that a visit to the newly built RM27.5 million Malaysia Public Works Laboratory (Makmal Kerja Raya Malaysia or MKRM) Sarawak also came as one of the delegates’ programmes in the meeting and hoped that the visit has offered more insights into Malaysia's initiatives and paved the way for potential areas of collaboration in future.

“It (MKRM Sarawak) is one of the six construction material testing labs built in Malaysia under the Works Ministry, a testament to Malaysia’s commitment in providing construction material testing facilities for the regulators and industry players,” he said.

-- BERNAMA