MARGMA hopes for a moratorium on EMC and levy

CIMB Research says given the higher industry risks and the unattractive valuations, it has downgraded the glove-making sector from Overweight to Neutral.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Rubber Glove Manufacturers Association (MARGMA) has reiterated that the rubber glove industry is totally perplexed by the sudden policy in regards to the Employer Mandatory Commitment (EMC).

It is also bewildered by the hefty amount that employers will have to fork out and especially when the only beneficiary of this move are the foreign workers.

“It also means a big amount of money up to RM5bil a year will be repatriated to their home country, causing another cash drain of which our nation can ill-afford at this point in time. We find it immensely surprising that officers and advisors are not advising the government well enough,” MARGMA president Denis Low Jau Foo said these in a statement Wednesday.

MARGMA estimates that the rubber glove industry would need to pay up to RM90mil a year just for the levy alone. This estimation has not taken into account of the additional costs on housing and transport expected of the employers under the EMC.

The association said the instead the huge amount of RM90mil could be put to better use in the pursuit of modernisation and automation of our factories in order to be less dependent on foreign workers, thus, heeding the Government’s call to reduce dependency on foreign workers.

“We are at a stage where production costs have been increasing and competition is very strong and the last thing that we need are surprises of this nature. As such, MARGMA pleads for wisdom to prevail and that our Deputy Prime Minister Datuk  Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi will come forward to assist and nurture industries in Malaysia especially in this very challenging period,” it said.

MARGMA support and concur with the statement made by the Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF), the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) and a host of other associations in calling for a conducive dialogue to address the EMC issue.

“We believe that a dialogue is in order and it is our hope that our Deputy Prime Minister will take it upon himself to assist and nurture industries in Malaysia,” it added.

“MARGMA has always been very supportive of the many good policies introduced by the Government and we will continue to support and further invest in new technology to modernize and automate our facilities. For now, a moratorium is wished for, it would be clever and nice,” it said.