Willie: Agri-commodity sector contributed RM189.5 billion to the Malaysian economy in 2021

DUBAI, February 7, 2022 - Deputy Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Willie Mongin said today palm oil, cocoa and pepper agri-commodities  must capitalise on the World Expo platform to enhance trade and bilateral ties between Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) industry players. 

Picture: Datuk Willie Mongin says despite the rough economic climate worldwide, Malaysia agri-commodity trade continues to perform reasonably well

He said it is also a strategic gateway to one of the most important geo-economic trends that will shape our world, with the rise of the emerging markets and development of global halal industry. 

“I sincerely hope we can raise more awareness, build bridges, and share our knowledge on sustainable agri-commodities development and efforts through our specially designed Sustainable Agri-commodity exhibition and line-up of events at the Malaysia Pavilion,” he said at the launch of Sustainable Agri-Commodities (Food-based Agri-Commodities) Week at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, UAE. 

Willie said that despite the rough economic climate worldwide, Malaysia agri-commodity trade continues to perform reasonably well. 

“From January to November 2021, the agri-commodity sector has contributed total export revenue of RM189.5 billion to the Malaysian economy. 

“This value has exceeded Malaysia’s total export revenue for year 2020 of RM152 billion,” he said. 

He hoped that Malaysia’s presence at the World Expo 2020 Dubai will help to tap the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) market, as well as, explore and facilitate potential joint ventures and foreign investment from the MENA region. 

He said for the palm oil industry, the concept of Sustainable Agri-commodity provides a strong platform for Malaysia to expand the global market for palm oil exports. 

“As Malaysia’s main agri-commodity export, this industry has contributed significantly in providing a continuous inflow of earnings through the export of raw commodities and value-added products. 

“In 2021, palm oil exports earned USD24.6 billion (RM102.3 billion) for Malaysia, with Malaysian palm oil exports in 2021 were recorded at 15.56 million tonnes, while production was at 18.14 million tonnes. 

“This figure also accounted for 24% of the world’s palm oil production and 31% of the exports,” Willie said. 

“As the fourth largest contributor to the Malaysian economy, the palm oil industry would be able to maintain its 2021 performance in 2022, backed by various intensified marketing and promotional efforts to be conducted by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities and its agencies. 

“Last year, Malaysian palm oil and palm oil products exported to the Middle East amounted to 2.4 million tonnes, with a value of US$1.7 billion,” he added. 

He said UAE took up 10% of the total palm oil and palm oil products exported to this region, valued at US$192 million. Adding that the estimated export value of palm oil and palm oil products to the Middle East in 2021 was approximately US$2.5 billion. 

On cocoa Industry, Willie said the contributed RM6.23 billion tom Malaysia’s export earnings in 2020. 

“With global cocoa consumption projected to be worth US$120 billion at present (US$1=RM4.18),the ministry has drafted various initiatives to achieve the targeted export value as well as harness the industry high potential,” he said. 

He said Malaysia is currently focusing on becoming a producer of single-origin and premium quality cocoa beans to meet the high demand in the market and ensure the products comply with the domestic and other international standards and regulations, including the food safety. 

He added the ministry, through the Malaysian Cocoa Board (MCB), will proactively explore and increase the cocoa production for export-led growth strategy. 

He said apart from doing cocoa plantation and training the local entrepreneurs to produce chocolate, the ministry will also shift its eyes on the grinding business. 

“For this, the cocoa beans are imported and outsourced into the country for grindingprocess, which then will be re-exported in the form of cocoa powder. 

“With the application of the latest method in crop planting, harvesting, post-harvesting and cocoa bean processing, and managing cocoa genetic materials, Malaysia could surely become one of the high-quality cocoa beans producers in the world. 

“The MCB is also developing a cocoa beans traceability system to further enhance product origin assurance. 

“In this regard, Malaysia has established a well-equipped analytical laboratory with ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation for chemical and microbiological analysis, supported by a team of panelists for cocoa liquor and chocolate sensory evaluation. 

“Sustaining the importance of cocoa and introducing precision and smart cocoa management towards Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) is a game-changer for the development of the cocoa industry in Malaysia. 

Precise and smart cocoa farm management offers the right blueprint to increase cocoa productivity and at the same time, reduces agriculture input costs involved, as proven and tested in pilot study in Malaysia,” Willie said. 

He said the Malaysian pepper industry contributed RM2,434 million to the nation’s GDP in 2020 and continuously provides the main source of livelihoods for thousands of pepper farmers in Malaysia. 

He said nearly 98% of the nation’s pepper production is produced in the heart of Sarawak while theother 2% of the producing areas are in Sabah and Johor. 

 He said Malaysia is currently the fourth largest pepper producer among International Pepper Community (IPC) member countries. 

“About 70% of Malaysia’s pepper is exported as whole black pepper and the remaining as white pepper, green pepper in brine, value-added pepper and pepper products. 

“Among four of the most notable achievements in the R&D for pepper include the effective use of digital solutions for identifying pest, diseases and nutritional disorders of pepper plants through the use of various mobile phone applications, the introduction of reliable and cheaper alternative pepper support poles to help farmers cope with the cost of production, the application of bio-chemical fertilisers to increase the productivity of pepper vines by 15% to 20% per hectare at the farm level and the newly established pepper genetic database to reveal the metabolism process in pepper plants that contributes to diseases resistance and affects the yield performance. 

“In 2021 alone, over 21 R&D projects in bio-technology, pepper agronomy innovation and the development of value-added pepper products were initiated. 

“As such, Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) is tasked to provide the ongoing guidance and support to its smallholders, especially on the proper fertilising techniques and GAP,” he said. 

 He urged MPB to seriously consider expanding the Malaysian pepper commodity prospect to any of the Middle East market by leveraging on the increased demand for halal-certified products and various strategic logistics of several ports in the Middle East such as Dubai, the main port in the UAE and Bandar Abbas in Iran. 

“We view that this crucial strategy will create a greater market access for our domestic halal-certified high value-added and premium pepper products produced by our own SMEs, such as the Creamy White Pepper (CWP). 

“Malaysia’s pepper is of higher quality pepper in terms of pungency, flavour and aroma comparedto other peppers from other countries,” Willie said.

From 17 recorded early this month, the number of Covid-19 cases has jumped to 84 in Sarawak today

 KUCHING, February 7, 2022 - From 17 positive Covid-19 cases beginning this month, the number has jumped to 84 as at 12 noon today, the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) said in a statement released this afternoon. 

It said topping the list is Kuching district with 45 cases, followed by Sibu with 20 cases, Miri nine,Serian four, Song three, Bintulu two and Samarahan one. 

The remaining 33 districts of Sarawak recorded zero new cases. 

SDMC said 65 of the 84 cases are Category One without symptoms, 18 as Category Two with mild symptoms and one as Category Three which affects the lungs. 

However, SDMC said there were no reports of deaths due to Covid-19 infections. 

It  said there were no new or existing Covid-19 clusters that trigger the spread of the infection.

Sarawak produces 70% of Malaysia's LNG, but only consumes less than 5% of the country's total production

 KUCHING, February 7, 2022 - Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg has today said Sarawak supplies 70% of Malaysia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG), but only consumes less than 5% of Malaysia’s total production.

Picture: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg speaking at the launch of Action and Implementation Plan for Post Covid-19 Development Strategy 2030.

He said there is a pressing need to intensify localisation of gas supply and utilisation to further industrialise Sarawak in the next five to 10 years in order for the state to increase high value downstream economic activities.

“At the same time, we are also exploring new oil and gas blocks onshore and offshore to ensure volumes are available for Sarawak’s journey towards industrialisation,” he said when launching Action and  Implementation Plan (AIP) for PCDS 2030 here today.

He said the state government has established the Sarawak Gas Roadmap (SGR) 2030 with the aim to localise 1,200 million standard cubic feet per day by 2030.

“There are USD$25 billion investment opportunities for private sectors to catalyse on our economy through various petrochemical downstream industries.

“Midstream petrochemical industries such as methanol, ammonia, hydrogen and polyethylene will further enhance our existing downstream manufacturing ecosystem and create more business opportunities,” the chief minister said.

He stressed once implemented, Sarawak will create additional 15,000 jobs in oil and gas sector by 2030.

He said having petrochemical derivatives capacities also position Sarawak in the global manufacturing supply chain ecosystem.

He recalled that the state government  had signed the Commercial Settlement Agreement (CSA) with PETRONAS on December 7, 2020, which among others,, provides Sarawak with a greater share of revenues from oil and gas found in Sarawak.

“It also provides for a more active involvement by Sarawak in the oil and gas industry by creating and maintaining a stable, conducive business and investment environment for the sustainable growth of the oil and gas industry, both upstream and downstream in Sarawak,” he said.

On AIP for PCDS 2030, he said it is an innovative way for the state to ensure all the initiatives are aligned to Post Covid-19 Development Strategy (PCDS 2030) aspirations.

“I am confident that we can deliver the development objectives of the plan as we have clear measurable outcomes for the initiatives and action steps to achieve the goals laid out in the AIP,” he said.

The chief minister also said he reorganised his ministries with the aim to focus on areas where it matters most in PCDS 2030.

“The reorganisation will further strengthen our service delivery especially in this challenging time and addressing high expectation of the rakyat.

“The AIP of the ministries and the departments and agencies under them will give greater transparency and accountability, because what gets measured gets done according to specification, time and resources,” he said.

State Secretary Datuk Amar Jaul Samion said AIP is a detailed plan outlining specific actions needed to achieve PCDS 2030 outcomes and aspirations, mainly:

1. To ensure implementing agencies are very clear about their planned outcomes;

2. To be certain on the actions on how to achieve the outcomes and aspirations; and

3. To ensure continuity in the implementation of the Plan to cater for changes in leadership of the implementing agencies in the future. People may come and go, but AIP remains for at least 10 years.

“In executing AIP, it is extremely crucial for ministries and its agencies to be mindful of the need to change the way we work,” he said.

Jaul also asked the ministries and agencies to undertake seven key actions, and these are:

1. Actively review, refine or propose new policies for the sectors such as Mining Policy;

2. Constantly study or review the existing Ordinance or propose new ordinance to cater for the new policies or to circumvent hurdles in our implementation process;

3. To improve, change or totally revamp current procedures to be relevant to the current situation such as improvement on the procedures for ease of doing business;

4. Actively engage the civil society and initiate deliberate actions to help our community particularly the poor and B40 to improve their level of income and meaningfully involve them in the ministries or agencies programmes;

5. Develop clear Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and targets as well as definite actions together with the timelines for each activity to track progress and achievements of individual officers or sectors in the department;

6. Promote active collaboration across the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies as well as close collaboration with the Federal Agencies to ensure the State’s interests are taken into consideration; The days of silo mentality are over. State interests should now override departmental interests, and

7. To have active engagements with private sector to develop workable business models for economic projects such as agropark, petrochemical hub and digital transformation.

With AIP in place, he said the ministries, departments and agencies are now more equipped with the knowledge on the requirements to implement the initiatives as well as to manage it for economic prosperity, social inclusivity and environmental sustainability, the 3 pillars of PCDS 2030.

“All ministries, departments and agencies are now required to form a dedicated team to manage their respective AIPs to ensure their initiatives are implemented according to scope, resources and timeline and support the three pillars of PCDS 2030.

“At the State Level, we need a strong monitoring mechanism to track the implementation status of the various programmes.

“We acknowledge that Civil Service is the implementer of PCDS 2030 initiatives.

Our role is to ensure to the successful implementation of these initiatives and to facilitate private investment to grow the economy.

“The Civil Service also needs to ensure these initiatives benefit the rakyat, with emphasis on strong community participation in the various socio-economic sectors.

“Beyond AIP, the ministries, department and agencies need creative solutions to finance these initiatives as our financial resources cannot support all these initiatives.

“Agencies should not depend entirely on state funding but need to explore wider options such as Federal Government and private sector, and others,” Jaul said.

KM lancar Skim Bantuan Deposit Perumahan, kerajaan akan salur RM10,000 sebagai deposit untuk pembeli rumah pertama

 “Pelbagai usaha telah dilaksanakan untuk memperkasakan usaha Mutiara Mortgage & Credit Sdn Bhd seperti memperkenalkan Pakej Pembiayaan Perumahan patuh Shariah yang komprehensif.

Gambar: Ketua Menteri Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg

Sejajar pengumuman saya pada Oktober 2021 yang lalu, Housing Deposit Assistance Scheme (HDAS) telah diperkenalkan dan akan  diurus oleh Mutiara Mortgage & Credit Sdn Bhd.

Inisiatif ini adalah merupakan Skim Bantuan Deposit Perumahan yang ditawarkan kepada golongan B40 dan M40 di Sarawak untuk membantu pemilikan kediaman sendiri.

Melalui skim khas ini Kerajaan Negeri akan menyalurkan bantuan deposit sebanyak 10% atau maksimum RM10,000 untuk deposit pembelian rumah mampu milik kepada pembeli rumah pertama.

Ini adalah skim seumpamanya yang julung kali diperkenalkan di negara ini untuk membantu rakyat kita dalam golongan yang berpendapatan rendah.

HDAS turut diperluaskan bagi pemilik tanah yang ingin membina rumah di atas tanah sendiri.

Milikan tanah mestilah tanah yang diperuntukkan oleh Jabatan Tanah dan Survei dibawah Skim Pembesaran Kampung (SPK) dan Skim Penempatan Semula (SPS).

Bagi proses ini, peserta boleh menghubungi atau membuat permohonan terus di pejabat Mutiara Mortgage & Credit Sdn. Bhd.

Pada waktu yang sama, bagi inisiatif membina rumah di atas tanah sendiri, Mutiara Mortgage akan memperkenalkan Program Rumah Spektra Mutiara di mana kos pembinaan rumah akan dibiayai oleh Mutiara Mortgage melalui produk Mutiara Dream Home Financing Scheme (MDHFS).

“Rekabentuk rumah yang standard dan telah ditetapkan, selesa, mempunyai 3 bilik tidur 2 bilik air dan berkeluasan minimum 750 kaki persegi.

Harga kos pembinaan dianggarkan berjumlah sekitar RM90,000 hingga RM160,000 yang akan dibiayai melalui pembiayaan perumahan dengan mutiara.

Dengan adanya inisiatif-inisiatif seumpama ini, ia amat membantu rakyat Sarawak dari segi peningkatan pendapatan boleh guna isi rumah (nett disposable income) sekaligus meningkatkan nilai kekayaan (wealth creation) masing masing.

Penduduk di luar bandar turut diberi perhatian khusus agar tidak terpinggir dalam proses transformasi ini.

Dalam masa yang sama, pembeli rumah generasi muda turut sama menikmati kemudahan dalam urusan membeli rumah dengan adanya skim bantuan deposit dan kadar keuntungan pembiayaan yang amat rendah berbanding dengan pinjaman perumahan oleh pihak bank komersial.

 Dari segi tempoh pembiayaan pula, jika mereka dapat membeli rumah pada usia muda, maka bayaran bulanan menjadi lebih rendah kerana tempoh pembayaran yang lebih panjang.” - Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg. (February 7, 2022)

Baru Bian says declaring 118,163ha area as Ulu Trusan Protected Forest will deprive Lun Bawang community of their NCR lands

 MIRI, February 7, 2022: The Lun Bawang community is objecting to the state government’s proposal to declare 118,163ha in Lawas as the Ulu Trusan Protected Forest (UTPF).

Picture: Ba'Kelalan State Assemblyman Baru Bian

Ba’Kelalan State Assemblyman said the proposal, when gazetted, threatens the community’s very existence as natives of Sarawak.

“The new proposal has not been published in the Gazette as required under Section 8 of the Forest

Ordinance yet, as was done in 2015.

“However, the community at a meeting held on Saturday has resolved to send a petition to Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Openg to strongly object to the proposal,” he said in a statement.

He said several issues should be noted about this proposal, saying that it will extinguish the NCR lands of a large proportion of the Lun Bawangs, thereby depriving them of their hunting, foraging and fishing lands.

“This will effectively rob them of their livelihood,” Baru said.

He added many are questioning why the government is targeting their NCR lands, asserting that “without our lands, we have nothing. Without our lands we will die. Without our lands we lose our identity as Lun Bawang.”

“All the villages along the alignment of the Sarawak-Sabah Link Road are affected although these

villages are not within the boundary of the proposed UTPF.

“The question here is - why earmark these areas as proposed Protected Forests when they are clearly land and forests which the Lun Bawangs are dependent upon for their livelihood?

“Further these areas had already been logged during the last 30 plus years and are still under valid Timber Licences?” he asked.

He said the SSLR is expected to bring economic growth to this area, and with it, land value is expected to increase.

“By extinguishing the rights of the people, the government is depriving them of the future benefits the SSLR is expected to bring,” he said.

Baru, who is a lawyer by profession, noted that Section 29 of the Ordinance on ‘Revocation of Forest Reserve and Protected Forest’ is noteworthy in that it provides that upon revocation, ‘such a forest reserve or protected forest or part thereof shall cease to be reserved or protected, but the rights or privileges which have been extinguished therein shall not be revived’.

He said once the NCR over an area is extinguished and the area is declared as Protected Forest, the NCR over the land will not be returned if the area is degazetted as Protected Forest in the future.

“The Lun Bawang people will not allow their lands to be taken from them in this manner and eventually alienated to some big corporations later.

“We are suspicious at this moment of this second attempt to extinguish our rights in view of the fact that this area is expected to greatly benefit economically with the imminent relocation of the capital city of Indonesia to Nusantara.

“We are asking whether the state government is deliberately depriving us, the Lun Bawangs of such an opportunity to better our lot,” he said.

“And we don't want at the end of the day, ‘Lun Bawang, Iamo Na Bawang’, (we are called ‘People of the Land, but with No Land’).

“This cry was heard even more loudly Saturday afternoon at our meeting, which wasattended by some hundreds of landowners and village representatives of the Lun Bawangcommunity and representatives from all the affected villages.

“We will continue to fight for our lands, our heritage and our existence.

He noted that the UTPF was first proposed in 2015, but was suspended after over 3000 people signed a petition which was presented to the former chief minister the late Tan Sri Adenan Satem.

“Interestingly, when I spoke to him about it, he said that he had no idea about the proposal.

“According to the information we received, the latest version of the proposal involves an areatotalling about 118,163 ha compared to 120,855 ha in the 2015 proposal, impacting villages which are located along the SSLR alignment.

 “At least 36 villages, possibly more, will be affected, involving lands that are clearly NCR lands. “According to our calculation, the farthest portion of the boundary of the proposed UTPF is only 3.9 kilometres, which is at Long Telingan and the nearest is about 1.2 kilometres at Long Lidung.

“We estimate that two-thirds of the Lun Bawang people stand to lose their NCR lands that include their "Tana Bawang" or "Tana Kenen" (Pemakai Menua) "Amug" (Temuda) if this proposal goes through,” he said.