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2004/10/7
Kuala Lumpur: The timber industry needs to increase its downstream activities in efforts to raise the national revenue which reached RM60 billion last year, said Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Anifah Aman.
He said the move should be taken by Sabah and Sarawak particularly as they were still lagging behind in terms of downstream timber industries.
abah and Sarawak merely export premier products, including sawn timber and not downstream products such as the ones produced by other states in the peninsula which export ready-made products especially furniture,?he said when winding up the debate on the Supply Bill 2005 and the motion on development expenditure estimates for 2005 at the committee stage for his Ministry at the Dewan Rakyat, Tuesday.
That was why revenue from exports of timber products from the peninsula was higher although the volume was smaller, he said.
Anifah said although Sarawak produced 8.8 billion cubic metres of timber annually, its export value was only RM5.7 billion, while Sabah produced 2.59 billion cubic metres with an export value of only RM2.4 billion a year.
Meanwhile, the states in Peninsular Malaysia produced only 2.58 billion cubic metres of timber annually but recorded export earnings of RM8.1 billion, he said.
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