The show attracted participants from around the world countries, including exhibitors, manufacturers, suppliers and professional visitors who are involved in the timber and woodworking industry.
Various types of smart wood processing equipment, new wood products and designs were also showcased in the venue, including wooden flooring, mouldings, doors, door frames and windows, panel products, wooden pallets as well as woodworking machinery such as cutting tools, combined machines, dust collection equipment, edge-banding materials and machines, handling equipment, abrasives, adhesives, coatings, timber-related equipment, and furniture production software.
Seminars & Market Update
In the first two days of the exhibition, several professionals from the woodworking industry delivered speeches on a wide range of topics
For Malaysia, the wood industry is very important. Despite the drop in demand from Europe, Malaysia's timber export contributed steadily to the country’s economy.
According to the data from Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB), Malaysia’s timber and timber product exports have grown by 33 times to RM25.2 billion in 2022 from RM749 million in 1973.
One of the speakers shared the current situation of Malaysia's timber industry. Malaysia is targeting annual timber export earnings of RM8 billion by 2030. The speaker added that attention must be paid on products utilising timber from planted forests and to promote high value products.
At the seminar segment, speakers shared information on Malaysia's engineered wood market and market expectations by different application and regions from 2019 to 2027.
Engineered wood is most widely used in the furniture industry and its market demand is higher in the Asia Pacific compared to North America, Europe and other market.
Another highlight was a speech by a Chinese guest on the overview and development trends of imported wood in China in 2022, which gave attendees an in-depth understanding of the country’s woodworking industry.
The event helped strengthen the cooperation between Malaysian and Chinese companies in terms of timber trade and expanding into different business opportunities.
MTC Media Familiarisation Programme
During the exhibition, Malaysia Timber Council (MTC), organizer of MWE 2023, arranged media familiarisation programme for media representatives of the industry.
The participants gained a better understanding on the current developments and future prospects of Malaysia's timber industry. The programme included a visit to Sungai Tekala Forest Eco Park and Sungei Lalang Forest Reserve, which showcased Malaysia’s rich forest resources and highlighted the country’s high-quality and fast-growing tree species that were managed sustainably.
Next up was a trip to Diverse Integrated, manufacturer of wood panels, door jamb and mouldings.
The invited media representatives said that the five-day event gave with new insights on how forest resources were managed and used in Malaysia and shed light on the country’s future developmental prospects.
