IPOH: Felcra Bhd is planning to forge collaborations with several international companies for the purpose of exporting palm oil to countries in the Middle East and
Africa, said its chief executive officer, Datuk Zulkarnain Md Eusope.
He said in order to increase the agency’s revenue, the need to export the commodity would not be focused only on specific countries.
“The Chinese government through its Ambassador has stated the country’s commitment to import palm oil even if the European Union (EU) countries do not want to buy palm oil from Malaysia.
“We must diversify our efforts (to increase revenue) following the palm oil issue with the EU,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters after attending the Perak Region Felcra Employees Aspiration 2018 ceremony with Perak Government Leaders, which was officiated by State Rural Development, Agriculture, Plantation, Information and Human Capital Development Committee chairman, Datuk Saarani Mohamad here yesterday.
However, further information on the plan would be announced later after the negotiation process with the companies were concluded, said Zulkarnain.
In another development, Zulkarnain said Felcra would establish a research and development (R&D) centre in plantation, agricultural and food sectors, to be located in Felcra Nasaruddin Belia near Parit here.
He said the R&D centre would cover several sectors in plantation and agriculture, namely to produce high quality seeds such as oil palm, Matag and Pandan coconut as well as paddy.
“Perak is the main state in Felcra, hence, we consider these matters by developing the R&D centre in the state,” he said, adding the centre was expected to be launched by the Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi early next month. — Bernama