MEDIA STATEMENT
MPIC ENSURES SUSTAINABILITY OF MALAYSIA’S KEY
AGRICOMMODITY PRODUCTS THROUGH DAKN 2030

1. Contrary to expectation, the two-year COVID-19/MCO (Movement Control Order) period of 2020-2021 were ‘booming years ’for Malaysia’s Agricommodity products with an overall increase of 64% from the pre pandemic period of 2018-2019.

2. Despite the country facing numerous economic devastations from the raging COVID-19 pandemic, the export value of Malaysia’s Agricommodity products remained strong, rising significantly over the four-year period from RM127.9 billion in 2018 to RM128.5 billion (2019) to RM151.3 billion (2020) and RM209.6 billion (2021).

3. To sustain the potential and growth of Malaysia’s Agricommodity industry, the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030 (DAKN 2030) was launched in March 2022 to further drive the
development of the country’s Agricommodity sector in a more sustainable, competitive and market-oriented manner. This is in tandem with new norms and increased leverage on digital technology in the post-COVID-19 era.

4. In essence, DAKN 2030 contains five core thrusts:

(i) sustainability;

(ii) productivity;

(iii) value-added creation;

(iv)market development; and

(v) inclusivity.

5. Below are six Agricommodity products that will benefit directly from the implementation of DAKN 2030:

(i) Palm oil: Efforts will be undertaken to increase exports and reduce stocks through export duty exemptions for crude palm kernel oil (CPKO) and processed palm kernel oil (RBDPKO) for
companies that meet the application criteria. As a result, the price of crude palm oil (CPO) has stabilised again while showing an increasing trend from June 2020 until now. In tandem with this is implementation of the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification to brand sustainable and quality Malaysian palm oil as well as strengthening strategic cooperation with Indonesia through the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC).

(ii) Rubber: Plans are afoot to extend the use of rubber in Malaysia to road construction and the production of new and value-added products based on rubber such as seismic bearings, rubber gloves and others. At the same time Malaysia will co-operate with the world's main rubber producing countries namely Thailand and Indonesia under the framework of the International Tripartite Rubber Council (ITRC) to strengthen and stabilise international rubber market prices;

(iii) Timber: Malaysia will expand its participation in domestic and international timber, furniture and construction exhibitions to create demand for Malaysian timber products and to increase
networking and business opportunities in relevant countries; and At the same time, the country plans to increase cooperation between relevant agencies such as the Malaysian External Trade
Development Corporation (MATRADE) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) to encourage the timber industry to expand access to the digital market through digital exhibition participation as well as to encourage marketing through digital platforms such as AliBaba and MineBizs, among others.

(iv) Cocoa: DAKN 2030 seeks to implement the Domestic Market Support Service Programme (KSPD) by helping cocoa farmers market their beans with reasonable purchase price offers, thus
reducing the activities of middlemen who offer uncompetitive prices. Additionally, efforts will be directed at carrying out virtual promotional activities where the industry has attended several
virtual exhibition programmes through webinar, zoom stage presentation, live chat and online business matching platforms.

(v) Pepper: A potential effort is to directly sell pepper and its related products to special or niche markets to increase the competitiveness of the Malaysian pepper industry; This entails the
introduction of value-added pepper products such as sterile pepper (Mikrokleen) and pepper powder for markets that are more concerned with food safety and quality as well as farm-level
specialty products such as creamy white pepper (LPK). So far, the Malaysian Pepper Board (MPB) has successfully penetrated the value-added pepper product market and the special pepper
market in Japan, Sweden, South Korea, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Spain and Polynesia, to name a few markets.

(vi) Kenaf: The initial plan is to introduce cluster farms of 20 to 50 hectares to replace small-scale farms that are less economical and cultivated by existing kenaf growers. Additionally, the focus is also to develop a Research Centre for Research, Innovation Technology And Incubation Of Small Enterprises (RINTIS) to produce entrepreneurs in premium fibre processing activities apart from increasing the research and development (R&D) efforts of kenaf at upstream, intermediate and downstream levels.

6. MPIC is committed to sustain the country's agricommodity sectors in order to ensure continuous impactful economic recovery and improvement post COVID-19, despite facing the inflation
challenge predicted to be in 2023. DAKN 2030 is the guideline for the ministry in maximizing the potential of the circular economy through agricommodity biomass. This is to strengthen the position of the agricommodity sectors in economic recovery post COVID19.

YB DATUK HAJAH ZURAIDA KAMARUDDIN
MINISTER OF PLANTATION INDUSTRIES AND COMMODITIES
26th SEPTEMBER 2022