The Malaysian Rubber Council (MRC) served as a co-organiser alongside the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) – to the Malaysia International Agricommodity Expo & Summit 2022 (MIACES 2022) which took place at the Malaysia International Trade & Exhibition Centre (MITEC) from the 26th to 28th July 2022.
Themed at “Advancing Agricommodity in Sustainable Ecosystem” – the inaugural event provided a platform to uplift the Agricommodity sector through a series of activities – mainly conference, exhibition, roundtable discussions, B2B meetings, and awards night. MIACES 2022 focused on bringing the Agricommodity industry players, producers, investors and relevant stakeholders to showcase products, latest equipment, and technology under one roof.
MIACES 2022 involved the participation of 1,288 trade delegates and 350 companies from 39 countries, with 537 business-to-business meetings conducted alongside more than 10,000 trade visitors.
The Opening Ceremony of MIACES 2022 was launched by the Prime Minister of Malaysia, YAB Dato’ Sri Ismail Sabri, and launched by the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), YB Datuk Hajah Zuraida Kamaruddin. In attendance as well were MRC Chairman, YB Dr. Daroyah Alwi, MRC CEO, Mr. Nor Hizwan Ahmad, MRC Board of Trustees, MRC Management alongside fellow government officials from agencies and councils.
Throughout the three-day event, MRC participated as an exhibitor to promote rubber products such as Rubber Gloves, Rubber Medical Devices, Rubber Automotive Components, Engineered Rubber Products, and Household Rubber Products at our booth. Visitors also had the opportunity to experience the fog screen projection which uses water vapor to project on the layout and products available at our booth. Besides that, business matching sessions were also conducted with the participation of our colleagues. We are honoured to receive the visit of the esteemed Prime Minister and Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities to our booth. On the second day of MIACES 2022, our booth hosted a one-hour live demonstration of latex painting session by Ms Vivian Ng from Niuniu’s Gallery.
MRC also successfully organised a conference entitled “Advancing the Rubber Industry in a Sustainable Ecosystem” during the Rubber Breakout Session on the first day of MIACES 2022. MRC CEO, Mr. Nor Hizwan Ahmad led the conference alongside Mr. Anthony Ng, Chief Executive Officer of MIT Academy, Mr. Lionel Yap Teck Liong, Key Account Manager of Canadian Solar International and Mdm. Mastura Ishak, Principal Researcher of Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT) whilst Mr. Pong Kai See, Past President of Plastic and Rubber Institute Malaysia (PRIM) acted as moderator to the session. It was attended by more than 140 participants from various industrial backgrounds and governmental agencies – where the main subject revolved around adopting and implementing sustainable technology and engineering advancement for the benefit of the Malaysian rubber industry.
MRC alongside strategic partners – namely the Malaysian Rubber Board (MRB), Meditech Gloves, Cranfield University and Levidian signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the research and development of advanced rubber material for the development of a graphene aerospace balloon. This latest technological advancement is the first of its kind and is environmentally friendly – where it is created through the infusion of graphene and latex with added advantages. MRC is proud to be involved in a project that would elevate the Malaysian rubber industry to greater heights.
On top of that, MRC signed a Letter of Intent (LoI) alongside the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) and the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC) with Aim Vision Limited. The momentous signing is an indication for the setting up of an Agricommodity Integrated Office in Bangladesh, which will function as a marketing centre for made-in-Malaysia Agricommodity products – strategically enabling to reach out to growing demands for Agricommodity products in Bangladesh.
To end MIACES 2022, MRC attended the Closing Ceremony and Awards Night – represented by MRC Chairman, YB Dr. Daroyah Alwi, MRC CEO, Mr. Nor Hizwan Ahmad, and MRC Management alongside MRC colleagues. Two of MRC members – Associated First Rubber (M) Sdn Bhd and Geomax Rubber Innovative Products Sdn Bhd were selected as winners of the Best Agricommodity Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) of the Year (Rubber) and Best Agricommodity Start-Up of the Year (Rubber) respectively.
