THE Malaysia International Agricommodity Expo and Summit (MIACES) 2022 will be a platform to counter allegations such as those on forced labour and sustainability issues in the agricommodity sector. 

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the government will ensure that the companies and ministries in the agricommodity sector ensure the welfare of plantation workers and comply with sustainability issues as outlined in the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2030. 

“Even though our agricommodity products have received an encouraging response in the global market, the ministry is still facing challenges such as accusations of forced labour and sustainability issues from certain parties. 

“These accusations are unfounded because several factors were not taken into account and there was no detailed investigation before action was taken against the company or Malaysian agricommodity products,” she said during the MIACES 2022 opening ceremony today.

Zuraida said the aim of organising MIACES, which is themed “Advancing Agricommodity in Sustainable Ecosystem”, is to promote Malaysia as an international hub of the agricommodity sector to strengthen Malaysia’s position as a major producer of agricommodity products and showcase local innovation and technology at an international level. 

“We also want to emphasise Malaysia’s efforts in ensuring sustainability in this sector and not as per the accusations of certain parties,” she said. 

Also through MIACES, Zuraida said, her ministry is targeting RM300 billion export value for 2022 compared to RM209.5 billion for 2021.

She said industry participants have the opportunity to expand business, explore new markets for agricommodity exports and also have the opportunity to showcase their respective products. 

“The business matching session that will be held has the potential to be a collaboration platform for industry participants at the international level to be able to open up space for the local agricommodity sector to generate income and further increase the gross domestic product,” she added. 

The country’s export of agricommodity products in 2021 amounted to RM209.5 billion, a significant increase of 38.4% compared to the total export in 2020 of RM151 billion. 

Meanwhile, the oil palm sector was the largest contributor with a total of RM108 billion, followed by rubber and timber with RM71 billion and RM22.7 billion respectively, according to Zuraida. 

From January to May 2022, agricommodity exports recorded a total of RM87.6 billion, an increase of 2.7% compared to RM85.3 billion in the same period in 2021. – Bernama, July 26, 2022.