Page 93 - Malaysian Dietary Supplement Industry Status and Outlook Report 2019-2020 Preview

whom are non-genuine and circumvent regulations on
allowable marketing communications. From this perspective,
enforcement of regulations needs to be strengthened and
become more targeted such that genuine players do not get
caught in the spill over effects, and a level playing field is
ensured for all.

The Malaysian Perspective.

In addition to the global challenges above, the Malaysian
dietary supplement industry is also facing challenges at the
domestic level. It is noteworthy to highlight at this point that
the Malaysian dietary supplement industry comprises
various actors situated along the industry’s value chain,
including ingredient suppliers and manufacturers. These
domestic challenges are impacting Malaysia’s ability to
compete at the global level on two-fronts: firstly, as an
export-oriented industry, and secondly, as an innovator for
new dietary supplement products. (A list of prominent
challenges is included in Figure 5.6.)

We believe that the Malaysian dietary supplements industry
has the potential to be a prominent player in the global
dietary supplements industry (worth about USD186 billion
by 2020). We already have a robust, established, and
technologically advanced dietary supplements
manufacturing sector (OEM and ODM), and a host of unique
raw ingredients from our natural ecosystems that remain
untapped. Furthermore, Malaysia’s halal certification
provides our industry with a strong competitive advantage
in the global arena, particularly in halal markets which are
booming.

There is currently no established development framework
guiding the solution to the above challenges and
advancement of the Malaysian dietary supplements industry.
We observe that there is presently a dichotomy between the
industry’s governing framework (cutting across facets such
as regulation, innovation, drive for growth, etc.) and the
evolution of dietary supplement market. Specifically, we
observe that the industry’s governing framework is lagging
behind the speed at which the dietary supplement market,
both domestic and abroad, is moving. As a result, product
innovation and export growth are not maximized,
representing an opportunity cost to Malaysia’s economy.

An industry development framework is sorely needed. In the
next section, we propose a short list of recommendations to
relevant government stakeholders to begin our engagement
and kickstart this crucial process.

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