The History of Printing Industry in Malaysia

The printing industry in this country is known to be one of the oldest industries here.  In Malaysia, the first printing press was introduced by British missionary Robert Morrison, where it was used to print his first Malay-English dictionary. A number of important Malay classics, Hikayat Abdullah and Sejarah Melayu were published by Malaya Publishing House, and these books have continued to influence the way history is taught in schools. In other words, the printing industry is key to the growth of the education industry in Malaysia.

Besides education, all these years, it has played a major role as the main media for communication and dissemination of knowledge and information. Because printing being one of the oldest industry, the Malaysian printers over the years have acquired vast experience and technical capability.  And being aware of this potential of growth, our Malaysian Government is actively promoting the export of this service.

The printing industry in Malaysia is probably also among the top five largest industries in the manufacturing sector, with new licenses being issued every year. Owing to its long existence, this is an industry where the competition has always been great, especially for the general purpose printers who have to face stiff pricing competition. However, this does not deter inflow of foreign funds into the country to set up new printing factories in Malaysia.

As an attractive destination for foreign direct investment (FDI), despite the growing competition for global investments from other Third World countries like Vietnam and China, Malaysia’s skilled workforce is particularly attractive towards the establishment of higher value-added manufacturing activities, such as the high-end printing businesses. Malaysia’s business-friendly government policies have also created a conducive environment for the printing business to continue to flourish amidst stiff competition.

The number of projects approved for foreign investors have been encouraging. In 2006, some 26 projects involving the Paper, Printing and Publishing sectors have been approved by the Malaysia Industrial Development Authority (MIDA). These investments were in both new as well as expansion or diversification projects. This represents a total of RM688 million in both domestic and foreign investments, creating 1,900 jobs in the market. Some of the major sources of FDI are Germany, Singapore, USA, Japan and Taiwan.

Malaysia has also moved upstream with its own pulp-making industry which was set up in 2004, with a foreign investment of some RM4.2 billion for the manufacture of pulp from Acacia mangium, involving the Sarawak State Government. A wholly-owned Malaysian company was also established in 2004 to produce uncoated wood-free printing and writing papers using imported pulp. This has not been able to meet the local demand for paper. The printing industry and other related industries, including printing of compact discs (CDs) and food packaging, have contributed significantly to the country’s economy. The growth experienced in the food packaging industry, for example, has also driven the demand for better quality packaging. This industry is striving to boost its export revenue, resulting in a higher demand for printing inks used in food packaging. The business environment for the food retailing business in Asia has also shifted from the general stores managed by the family to supermarkets and hypermarkets.

A market analysis conducted by Frost & Sullivan shows that there will be an increase in demand in offset gravure inks, inks, liquid inks for flexographic, gravure printing, and both screen and metal decorative printing.

The proliferation of the printing press over the years has contributed much to the overall development of education, communication and dissemination of knowledge and information. Despite threats from the paperless modern digital media, the printing industry appears to be the more popular choice for the knowledge-based economy that Malaysia is set to build on. For everything that goes online, there is almost an
equivalent in the form of a publication. School textbooks and workbooks are still in printed form, instead of the digital format, and the hard copies of the newspapers are still the preferred choice of most people on the streets.

Increasingly, the printing industry in this country is becoming more specialized. Some printers, for example, Protect Print in Puchong, being one of the first Certified Security Printers in the world with High Security Manager System, are involved only in printing security documents using security paper and security patterns or designs. This has reduced the need to import security printing materials, as more of these jobs can now be done locally with the introduction of security features in the printing industry.

With the latest printing technology and the state of the art machinery being introduced into this country, our Government is encouraging all printing entrepreneurs in Malaysia to advance and actively cater for the export markets.

As a matter of fact, our Government has been very supportive as far as this industry is concerned so much so that the Malaysian printing and publishing industry is a significant contributor to the country’s economy being the top five largest industries in the manufacturing sector.

Whilst, the Government Policy towards the local printing industry is one of ‘protection�? nevertheless, the Government is encouraging foreign investor to establish their printing industry in Malaysia with 100% equity to take advantage of the excellent social, political and economic environment with the provision that the output is 100% export.  The Government is also encouraging foreign participation in printing projects which mainly cater for the domestic market but limited to 30% foreign equity.

Printing being a sensitive industry in this country, it is understandable that foreign participation in the printing projects have to be controlled :-

For example :

Understanding the statistics on printing industry

Number Of Printers As At 31st Dec. 2001 (Source : MIDA 2002)

It can be summed up that the printing industry in Malaysia will continue to grow in spite of the advent of the electronic media or internet. Malaysia has a rich legacy of printing and it is considered one of the oldest industries in the country