KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) is hoping for the government to continue its support of the rubber glove industry by extending and expanding the reinvestment allowance for industry players in the 2017 Budget.
President Denis Low said the reintroduction of the Special Reinvestment Allowance this year was especially timely and helpful, as most industry players are moving rapidly into third generation automation and robotics to remain cost competitive and efficient.
MARGMA has for many years lobbied for tax breaks and a reinvestment allowance on behalf of its members in its quest to automate and modernise plants.
“Large industry players like Top Glove, Supermax, Kossan, Hartalega, YTY & WRP invest heavily in Research & Development (R&D) to meet global quality and production expectations,” Low said in a statement yesterday.
He said global demand for gloves is estimated to reach 212.2 billion this year and Malaysia is expected to produce 133.6 billion gloves to meet world demand.
Low added, the top three challenges faced by the rubber glove industry include energy, manpower and water supply.
Today, the industry requires 3.7 workers to produce 1.0 million pieces of gloves versus 9.8 workers in 2009, and aims to cut it to just two workers per million pieces with modernisation and automation processes.
“We have become more efficient through investment in new and automated machinery, which is usually home-grown technology, and this has greatly reduced our need for foreign labour,” Low said.
He hoped the government would relax restrictions and also move very quickly on applications and approvals for foreign workers as the manufacturing industry still required foreign labour in jobs and functions that locals did not prefer.
“The industry is employing many Malaysians in supervisory, middle and senior management.
But, we still need foreign workers in factory production lines and other trade-related work, to support the supervisors and management,” he said.
In 2015, about 65,000 workers were employed in the rubber glove industry, of which 42,000 were foreigners.
The Malaysian rubber glove industry contributes 1.13 per cent to the nation’s GDP.
Export revenue from the industry in 2016 is projected to be RM14.3billion.
As the leading supplier of medical examination and surgical gloves, Malaysia claims a 63 per cent global market share. — Bernama