Sabah seaweed industry gaining prominence
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah is on the cusp of playing a vital role in introducing a ‘game changing’ green technology to the world, via its seaweed industry.
Cementing its prominence in the state, the industry is set to embark on a new phase involving replacing the use of conventional plastic with biodegradable, environmentally friendly packaging made from seaweed.
At the helm of the initiative is Minister of Agriculture and Food Industry Datuk Junz Wong, who said Sabah had great potential to be a key player given its progressive seaweed industry.
“The quality of seaweed in Sabah is good and even those around the region know our seaweed is of good quality.
“Our seaweed industry has always been important because of its versatility in producing food products as well as beauty products.
“Now, we want to take it to the next level by replacing the use of plastic, which has become an issue and nuisance around the world. The seaweed industry thus becomes more important,” he said, during a courtesy call by Penang exco Dr Afif Baharin.
Junz explained that the initiative would be in collaboration with Evoware cofounder David Christian, who developed the seaweed-plastic technology.
The ministry would facilitate in terms of bridging the businessto-business gap and providing the platform for the initiative to take off.
“To expand the seaweed plan, the government would facilitate the seaweed farmers and entrepreneurs to have dialogues to bring them together, before the private sector or people interested who see the potential of this industry could come in and take part or collaborate.
“Evoware is developing the mechanism which would be complete in about a year and a half or two years.
“Since we in Sabah are only starting to expand our seaweed plantation, the timing would be just nice because we would be ready once they’ve completed their end, provided our private sector is also keen.
“We wanted to invite it (Evoware) to Sabah for a seminar so it could go into more detail on the product and its potential in the industry, as well as the benefits of seaweed.
“For the first seminar, we should be targeting the business community, so they must know the potential of this industry.
“The second seminar would go to the grassroots to the farmers themselves, so they know what to expect and what to look forward to. Given our natural resources, we should be able to come up with good quality seaweed,” said Junz.
Meanwhile, Afif expressed the Penang state’s interest to utilise the technology once it is developed, similar to Sabah.
He said the courtesy call was to see the potential for collaboration between the two states, which he said showed promise due to its many similarities such as tourism and food industry.
“I foresee Sabah and Penang becoming good partners where both stand to benefit from each other to promote products and industries, such as how the seaweed industry could become value-added, for example through the production of plastic containers from seaweed.
“At the same time, food products from Penang and Sabah, as two states where tourism is emphasised, could be enjoyed by locals and tourists alike. Once we achieve that, our market would expand,” he said.