KUALA LUMPUR: Agriculture commodity product exports saw an increase of 64 per cent during the Covid-19 movement control order (MCO) period in 2020 and 2021, compared to the pre-pandemic years of 2018 and 2019.
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said despite the country facing numerous economic problems stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic, the export value of Malaysia's agriculture commodity products remained strong.
She said exports rose significantly over the four-year period from RM127.9 billion in 2018 to RM128.5 billion (2019), RM151.3 billion (2020) and RM209.6 billion (2021).
To sustain the potential and growth of Malaysia's agriculture commodity industry, the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030 (DAKN 2030) was launched in March this year.
The policy aimed at driving 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," she said in a statement today.
Zuraida said DAKN 2030 had five core thrusts - sustainability; productivity; value-added creation; market development; and inclusivity.
She said six agriculture commodity products that would benefit directly from the implementation of DAKN 2030 are palm oil, cocoa, kenaf (African hibiscus), pepper, timber and rubber.
As for palm oil, she said efforts would 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 criteria.
She added that the price of crude palm oil (CPO) had stabilised after posting an upward trend since June 2020.
On rubber, Zuraida said plans were afoot to extend the use of rubber in Malaysia in road construction and the production of new and value-added products such as seismic bearings and rubber gloves.
"At the same time, Malaysia will cooperate 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," she said.
Zuraida said Malaysia would also 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.
She said cooperation between relevant agencies such as the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade) and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) will be stepped up to encourage the timber industry to expand its access to the digital market.
This will be achieved by participating in digital exhibitions and encouraging marketing through digital platforms such as AliBaba and MineBizs, among others.