ISTANBUL (Dec 30): Top Glove Corp Bhd, the world's largest manufacturer of rubber gloves, is considering setting up a factory in Turkey which already is importing 70% of its demand for the product from the company.

Founder Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai said he sounded out this possibility at a meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan here last night.

Turkey is the fourth largest importer of gloves after the US, Japan and Brazil.

Top Glove has operations spanning across Malaysia, Thailand, China, the US and Europe and has captured 25% of the world’s market share.

It exports to 195 countries, fulfilling demand in both the healthcare and non-healthcare segment.

Lim and Berjaya Group founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan are here on a three-day mission to deliver humanitarian relief aid to Syrian refugees as volunteers of the Tzu Chi Foundation, together with 23 other volunteers.

"We are seriously planning to set up a factory in Turkey. It will help create between 500 and 1,000 jobs and on top of my mind is the opportunity to employ the Syrian refugees as well as Turkish citizens," he told the Malaysian media covering the Tzu Chi mission.

The Turkish operation would also boost Top Glove's presence in Europe.

Lim, one of Malaysia's top corporate figures, spoke at length about his experience as a Tzu Chi volunteer to bring cheer to the lives of the refugees here for the past two days.

"When I think about a natural disaster and a war like Syria, a war is 100 times worse as people have been living amid fear and destruction and without the basic amenities for 365 days a year for the past six years," he said, choked with emotion.

Tzu Chi spreads the message of love and compassion throughout the world bringing humanitarian aid to victims, irrespective of colour and creed or religion.

He said through education and other noble effort, good deeds shall overwhelm bad deeds and with more good people around, the number of bad ones would diminish to create a better world.

Lim stressed the critical importance of countries being run by good leaders who could effectively rein in on corruption and crime.

"Tzu Chi strongly promotes honesty, integrity and transparency," he added.