Uggah (second left) taking a look at the durian paste product that will be shipped to China. To his right is Chong. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING: Sarawak witnessed a historic moment with the first shipment of durian paste, which will be exported to China.
According to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, the shipment will first be shipped to Johor before it is exported to China.
“This is a historic event and it’s the first time that Sarawak has sold durian products, today being durian paste to overseas market, which is to Guangzhou, China,” he told reporters when met at the launching ceremony here today.
Uggah, who is also Modernisation of Agriculture, Native Land and Regional Development Minister, said the shipment is a follow-up to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Department of Agriculture Sarawak (DOA) and Top Fruits (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd last year to develop the state’s durian industry.
He pointed out that Top Fruits Sarawak had purchased 80 tonnes of fresh local durian during the last durian season from December 2017 to January 2018 which was then processed into 16 tonnes of raw durian paste.
“We hope that they will be able to double their production or purchase this year and double the volume that they are going to ship over to China,” he said.
Also present were Assistant Minister of Native Land Development Datuk Roland Sagah Wee Inn, Assistant Minister of Agriculture Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail and Top Fruits (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd director Chong Yie Loong.