Malaysia plans to bring more local fruits such as durian and papaya into China due to its high demand in the country, said Agriculture and Agro-Based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Saabri Yaacob.
He said his ministry was expected to hold negotiations with the related authorities for Malaysia to bring more fresh local fruits into the country.
“Currently, we only export frozen fruits there due to the strict regulations to export fruits into China,” he said after opening the state level ‘Road to MAHA’ programme here today.
Ismail said in spite of the increase in demand for Malaysian durians and papaya in China, the supply for fresh fruits was not sufficient.
“Hence, we believe the fruits have huge prospects to penetrate the export markets, particularly in China,” he said.
The ministry would facilitate discussions among all parties involved in order to achieve the plan, he stated.
“They (China) had sent their correspondents to our country to do research and inspect our fruit orchards, to see whether the farmers adhere to their standards or not,” he said.
Ismail Sabri also urged the orchard owners to improve their orchard management, use new technology, and adopt good agricultural practices to increase the production of durians.
“We have a very big potential to increase the export of our durians into the republic as their people love fresh durians, especially the Musang King,” he said.
He added that Malaysia had exported about RM1.4 billion worth of local fruits with 30 per cent to China.
Source: New Straight Times