Muhyiddin calls for more innovation in business processes

KUALA LUMPUR: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who lauded the local rubber industry for managing to capture more than 50% of the global export market, has called for more innovation in business processes and operations to promote further productivity improvements.
"I have been informed the productivity per worker in the sector has increased from 500,000 per year in 1998 compared to 2.6 million gloves per year in 2014.
"Concurrent with the increase in productivity, export earnings per worker has also increased from RM51,000 per year in 1993 to to RM265,000 per year in 2013. The industry in 2014 is on track to provide employment to more than 41,000 workers," he added, when addressing the 7th International Rubber Glove Conference and Exhibition (IRGCE) here at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre yesterday.
Muhyiddin pointed out that these positive developments in the local rubber gloves industry complements the government's social and economic prosperity agenda.
The Malaysian rubber industry accounted for 54% of the global export value of US$6.2 billion (RM19.6 billion).
In 2013 Malaysia exported a total of US$4.53 billion worth of rubber products, with rubber gloves making up US$3.3 billion of that. These gloves are exported to more than 190 countries.
"In this regard, total export earnings of the industry had grew by a significant 282% from US$1.04 billion (RM3.33 billion) in 2002," he said, adding that the glove exports from Malaysia accounts for close to 80% of the total export earnings of the rubber product sector.
The three day IRGCE sees some 600 delegates from more than 25 countries from Europe, Asia and America, gathering to share the latest information on products, technologies and best practices, as well as the opportunity to strengthen business network within the glove industry.