MALAYSIA INTERESTED IN IMPORTING SOUTH SULAWESI COWS

Makassar, May 21 (ANTARA) - The Malaysian Prime Minister during a recent visit to Makassar said his government wished to import 5,000 cows from South Sulawesi this year.

Head of the South Sulawesi Animal Husbandry Agency Arifin Daud said here Wednesday that actually the Malaysian government had already expressed interest in the cows of the province in 2006.

He said the province could start exporting its cows this year, but the plan had to be dropped in view of the national ban on female cattle exports.

"We plan to have further discussions in June on the realization of cooperation between the South Sulawesi provincial administration and the Malaysian government," he said.

However, in the meantime only buffaloes can be exported, he added.

Arifin Daud said according to official data, up to April 2009 the total number of cows in 18 regencies in the province reached 704.

However, cow sales to other parts of the country is allowed, such as to Kalimantan, Maluku, Papua, Gorontalo, and North Sulawesi.

To speed up the increase in the cow population in South Sulawesi, the local government had declared 20 regencies for carrying out the cow artificial insemination project on a regular basis.