By IANS,
Kuala Lumpur : Malaysia should encourage indigenous enterprise and not import military uniforms from India, Pakistan and Indonesia, an Indian origin legislator has said.
The government is spending RM 500 million (over $200 million) while the local textile enterprises are languishing, A. Sivanesan, the health, environment and human resources committee chairman of Perak state legislature, said Monday.
“The uniforms could be made locally to save on foreign currency exchange,” the New Straits Times Tuesday quoted him as saying after meeting the management of Kamunting Textile Industries.
The company, which has been in operation for 40 years, suffered huge losses last year.
School uniforms, he said, were also being imported from China. He said he had written a letter to Human Resources Minister S. Subramaniam suggesting that the matter to be raised in parliament.
“The local players are finding it difficult to stay afloat as foreign manufacturers chose to set up their plants in China, Vietnam and other countries where labour costs are lower,” Sivanesan said.