© Nikkei Markets
KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22) — Malaysia will offer several incentives to raise farm productivity, boost farmers’ income and reduce food imports, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said Thursday.
The National Agrofood Policy 2.0 that seeks to detail a roadmap for the farm and food sectors is expected to speed up modernization of the industry, Mahathir Mohamad said at an event in Selangor.
“The government will implement various initiatives in the agro-food subsector to reduce reliance on food imports via increase in productivity and income of farmers, fishermen and agro-entrepreneurs,” Mahathir said. “Hopefully this will reduce the imbalance in the country’s food trade.”
The focus is aimed at guaranteeing food security in the country where population is expected to rise to 41.2 million in 2040 from last year’s 31.6 million.
The agro-food industry totalled 37.4 billion ringgit ($8.9 billion) in 2017, rising from 36.7 billion ringgit a year earlier, Mahathir said. Farm sector output accounted for 8.17% of Malaysia’s gross domestic product in 2017, edging higher from 8.07% a year earlier.
– By Pei Ling Gan
– Edited By Abhrajit Gangopadhyay