The processing industry was the major stakeholder in exports, bringing in over US$12.3 billion.

Other sectors including garments, electronics, computer components, handicrafts, woodwork, plastic products, and electric wires and cables recorded surges of between 23-51 percent. These were spurred on by increased demand from overseas markets such as Cambodia, Laos, the UK, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, India, Brazil and the US.

However, pundits warned that the country’s industrial export turnover remained low due to the under-utilisation of tax and tariff reduction policies of importing countries by domestic enterprises.

The Ministry of Industry (MoI) said the export turnover of industrial products, excluding crude oil, would continue to make up a substantial proportion of the country’s total export earnings.

The ministry has set a target of earnings of between US$47 and US$50 billion from the export of industrial products by 2010.