PETALING JAYA: The rubber and rubber products export is expected to increase to RM140 billion this year compared with RM71 billion in 2021 and RM49.2 billion in 2020, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said.

She said the rubber industry has seen an encouraging performance from the tyre industry with tyre exports increasing by 30.5 per cent to RM1.7 billion in 2021 compared with RM1.3 billion in 2020.

"Malaysia's export contribution of high-value goods and improvement in the export performance of dry rubber products as well as a boost in the consumption of locally produced rubber have driven the increase in export performance," she told reporters after the launch of the International Rubber Industry Convention and Expo in Malaysia (IRICE 2022) here today.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities is coming up with strategic solutions to rid the country from allegations regarding labour in the rubber industry, she said.

The ministry will work together with the rubber association and the agency and do their part in coming up with the solutions and it is going to be a continuous effort to expel these allegations and eradicate labour issues that plaque the commodity sector.

"This is the thing that we will work together and just now we have to consolidate our narrative to the European Union (EU) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) in a more concerted manner than being done on an ad-hoc basis.

"We have to do it in a concerted manner where the ministry itself would play a role and consolidate in representing the country as a whole. This is something we need to do and that we speak in one voice," she said.

-- BERNAMA