PUTRAJAYA: Putrajaya is urging rubber glove makers, who are mostly concentrated in Selangor now, to set up their factories in Kedah’s upcoming Rubber City, in view of the problem of water shortage and lack of production infrastructure that the industry is faced with in their current location.

Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC) Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong made the call yesterday after reiterating the twin problems plaguing the industry.

He also lamented that the prolonged Selangor water shortage issue, which has been affecting the national rubber glove industry for some time now, has yet to find the right solution.

“Many [rubber glove] factories have been impacted by the critical supply of water. The problem is becoming more [acute] and it will affect production,” Mah told reporters after the 2016 MPIC dialogue session.

“The water crisis in Selangor has been dragging on for a long time but we have not found the right solution. We will present our feedback to the state government and relevant agencies on how we can solve this problem,” said Mah.

The rubber glove industry — with most factories concentrated within Selangor — exports about RM10 billion worth of gloves yearly.

The 1,500-acre (607ha) Rubber City in Bukit Ketapang, Kedah, was built to be a specialised industrial area for rubber production. As development of the city is scheduled to take off this year, all works are expected to complete by end-2017.

“We encourage industry producers to visit the area and consider setting up their businesses there. In fact, we have had a meeting with Kedah’s menteri besar recently and from what we have discussed, development of the Rubber City seems to be going at full speed,” Mah said.

Mah also revealed that MPIC had been approached by “several interested parties” on moving their production base to Rubber City, but did not elaborate. Under Budget 2016, RM300 million had been set aside for the Rubber City development.

Meanwhile, on the commodities industry as a whole, Mah said MPIC has urged the finance ministry to provide more incentives to “autonomise” the commodities industry, further highlighting the need for more reliable machinery and lesser dependence on foreign labour.