KUALA LUMPUR: Reducing dependence on food imports will spur the growth of the national agrofood industry, local experts shared recently.
Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP) Business and Communications Faculty senior lecturer Assoc Prof Dr Mohd Zukime Mat Junoh said such a measure, as urged by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, will lead to a huge positive impact on local food production and the national economy in the long term.
“Local food-based industries will grow, more jobs will be created and the outflow of capital will drop.
“(This will lead) to reduced trade deficits and less reliance on foreign financing….it might also have a good effect on our local currency,” he told Bernama here today.
Meanwhile, Bank Muamalat Malaysia Bhd Economic and Social Finance Head Dr Mohd Afzanizam Abdul Rashid said that efforts to boost agrofood production would require time, land resources, human capital, expertise, skills and a comprehensive business ecosystem.
If all these needs can be met and implemented well, it is possible to reduce the reliance on food imports, Mohd Afzanizam said.
“For now, agriculture land use is mostly channelled towards oil palm, around seven million hectares compared to 1.2 hectares for the agrofood sector.
Industry-related skills and technology use need to be raised as well to ensure that there is sufficient yield,” he said, and suggested that funds such as grants and financing in the agrofood sector be increased to ensure that the capacity building could be conducted properly.
Anwar had previously highlighted the challenge of reducing food imports, which has reached RM75.5 billion last year, as an issue that needed to be addressed to safeguard the country’s food security. – BERNAMA
