MALAYSIA is seeking a meeting with India to discuss the supply of white rice in an attempt to overcome a shortage, said Agriculture and Food Security Minister Mohamad Sabu.

Mohamad said India’s decision to stop exporting white rice had caused a shortage as well as price hikes in Malaysia.

No date has been fixed for the government-to-government meeting but Mohamad expects it to take place soon.

“When they ceased the export of white rice, it led to a price increase of the item in Malaysia,” he told The Star Online in a report today.

“They will still export basmati rice but this type of rice is expensive.

“Hopefully, we will hear from them soon so that a meeting with their ministers can take place to find the best solution to ensure that our rice stockpile is sufficient.

“We want to ask them to continue exporting white rice to Malaysia – that is our hope.” 

Mohamad said that while Malaysia has an adequate supply of rice, there are shortages in certain areas because of panic buying.

“When the price of imported rice shot up, the demand for local white rice increased greatly too, causing shortage of supply in several places but we are taking steps to tackle the matter,” he said.

The minister said Malaysia is also looking into getting a supply from Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand but noted that those countries were facing rice issues of their own.

“The supply of rice is a global issue. While we are also affected, some other countries have it even worse,” he added.

In July, India imposed a ban on the export of widely consumed non-basmati white rice, following a ban on broken rice exports last year. – September 25, 2023.