KOTA KINABALU: Federation of Sabah Manufacturers (FSM) president Datuk Seri Panglima Wong Khen Thau reported a decline in exports from the manufacturing sector.
He said the manufacturing sector was facing many challenges, including rising operational costs, higher shipping costs, more expensive raw materials and the cabotage policy.
While the gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate was around 4-5 per cent for the nation, Wong reported a growth of 3 to 3.5 per cent in the industrial sector here.
Apart from the export of palm oil and cooking oil, Wong said there was a drop in exports in the manufacturing sector.
“There was one furniture company who used to export 1,000 containers but his clients are now importing from Vietnam as the latter has sufficient raw materials and sells cheaper.”
In addition, Wong said the sector was facing higher cost in various aspects including electricity, manpower, terminal cost, and Bunker Adjustment Factor (BAF), which has increased by more than 10 per cent.
“Malaysia, being one of the bigger trading nations, is also impacted by the world economy,” he said.
Wong hoped the government would look into these issues and improve the cost of doing business in the manufacturing sector here.