Malaysia to import chicken if not enough supply — Mohd Sabu

KOTA KINABALU: Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu has assured that there will be enough supply of chicken and meat for the Ramadhan month and Aidilfitri festivity.

He said his ministry is working closely with the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama), Farmers' Organisation Authority (FOA), and other relevant departments and agencies to ensure that the people have sufficient supply of the necessities.

“If there is not enough supply, we can import them from countries that we have trade agreements with like China and Thailand,” he told reporters after officiating the Sabah International Food Expo (SIFEX) 2024 at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Sabu said in terms of exports, processed food products, especially those with the Malaysian halal status, have been successfully exported to 150 countries which include 1.8 billion Muslims worldwide.

He said this market has a lot of potential and with doubled efforts, it is not impossible that one day local products with the Malaysian halal status will not only be concentrated in Muslim majority countries but will also become a product of choice and have high demand in all corners of the world.

“My ministry always support the efforts of local food industry players to develop products and services at the global level through various government incentives whether in the form of advisory services, training, funding grants and tax incentives,” he said.

Mohamad Sabu also said digital technology in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era is currently affecting all levels of the agrofood value chain.

"Digitalisation coupled with innovation and eco-innovation to gain a more sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, digital technology is the key to transforming the way food is produced, processed, sold and consumed," he also said.

"In this context, we can always see the extraordinary success of entrepreneurs, especially among the youth who are more synonymous with social media influencers, successfully doubling their sources of income by increasing sales of local products through social media platforms," he added.

Accordingly, he believes that the youth of Sabah are also capable of producing food products that can potentially be marketed and sold throughout the country using digital application platforms, both online and offline.