Irish businesses optimistic on Malaysia’s business environment

KUALA LUMPUR: Irish businesses remain very optimistic on the business environment in Malaysia despite the change of government in May this year, said Irish Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Michael Creed.

He said business prospects in Malaysia remained positive as it continued to offer significant opportunities, especially on the dairy side, to Irish enterprises.

“They are very optimistic about the new government in Malaysia, and I appreciate that the current government has a very expensive reform agenda,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the MalaysiaIreland Sustainable Dairy Ingredients Seminar and Business-to-Business Session yesterday.

Meanwhile, Creed noted that the Malaysian dairy market was not self-sufficient enough and hence, could provide significant opportunities for business-to-business growth in the sector.

It was reported that Malaysia relies heavily on dairy imports, as local production of dairy products was only able to meet five per cent of domestic demands, compared with Indonesia which produces 40 per cent of the dairy products in its market.

“In fact, I am going to meet Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub to discuss and explore opportunities that can mutually benefit business relationship between our countries, as well as between the European Union and Malaysia,” he said.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Investment Development Authority ( MIDA) executive director Ahmad Khairuddin Abdul Rahim said Malaysia’s food manufacturing industry had no choice but to think differently and move towards more automated, flexible and efficient operations.

“Today, the food industry is operating against a backdrop of many challenges. However, the future of this industry remains resilient to external adversities and is recessionproof,” he said.

Ahmad Khairuddin said as of June this year, MIDA approved 2,178 projects with investments worth RM51.8 billion in the food manufacturing industry, creating more than 176,500 jobs locally.

He added that, currently, there are over 8,000 food manufacturing establishments in Malaysia, 80 per cent of which are small and medium-sized enterprises. — Bernama