The Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) said Tuesday exports of bamboo-based products could be boosted so as to eliminate the industry’s trade deficit within the next five years with the transformation of the local industry, Bernama reported. Its Director General Dr. Jalaluddin Harun said Malaysia’s bamboo exports, currently averaging around RM250,000 ($69,622) annually, can be boosted by introducing value-added products to match or even exceed the country’s bamboo imports, valued at RM4.3 million in 2014. “The transformation of our current bamboo industry into a new era of higher value-added products will enable the industry to start contributing to the national economy,” he told a media conference on the sidelines of the inaugural ‘International Seminar on Bamboo’ here Tuesday.
