ID :
404829
Mon, 04/25/2016 - 12:27
Auther :

Malaysia Should Boost Investment In Upstream Sector Of Agriculture Industry

SERDANG (Selangor, Malaysia), April 25 (Bernama) -- Malaysia should increase its investment in the upstream sector of its agriculture industry in order to reduce its dependence on the import of essential items. Senior Director of Strategic Planning Division, Malaysian External Trade Development Corp, Wan Latiff Wan Musa, said the upstream businesses, such as production of raw materials, tended to give advantages to the high-end products of the agri-based industry. "Whenever Malaysian companies decide to go deep into something, they have traditionally done very well, be it upstream or downstream. "However, if they just stay inactive and continue with their export and import activities, they will get into trouble when competing with the larger corporations when the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) is implemented," he told reporters after the forum, themed 'TPP Agreement and its Implication to Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security' here Monday. He said the agriculture industry needed to strengthen its manufacturing sector and have a steady raw material supply by improving processing of agro-based products. "As for now, we are too dependent on imported products and this has caused not just the prices of some items to increase but also the demand for the overseas products to keep rising compare to local products," he said. The half-day forum was jointly organised by the National Council of Professor, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Institut Kajian Dasar dan Pertanian Makanan (Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies). Wan Latiff was one of the speakers at a session. Other speakers were Managing Director of Khazanah Research Institute, Charon Mokhzani, UPM Associate Researcher, Institute of Agricultural and Food Policy Studies, Fatimah Mohamed Arshad, and Naqis & Partners Partner and Head of Project Infrastructure Fariz Azman Zainul Azman. Earlier, during the session, Wan Latiff said, the halal industry could also take advantage of the agri-based industry when the raw materials were produced by the local businesses. Meanwhile, Charon said, as Malaysia aspired to become a developed nation, it has also to be based on the development of the agriculture sector in tandem with the development of other sectors. "TPPA will see a minimum impact on the agriculture industry and we should know how to get full advantages from it. "All parties should work hard, improve knowledge and enhance the infrastructure and innovations," he said. Charon said multinational companies were also eyeing these opportunities and according to studies, they were better prepared to take advantage of the integrated community compared with regional players as they were already comfortable with their growth in their home market. "This is why regional companies must make sure they are not too late in planning their strategies to take advantage of the TPPA and capture market share in the region," he said. -- BERNAMA

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