TELUK INTAN: The Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (Fama) aims to distribute 2,000 tonnes of local white rice nationwide every month, says its chairman Aminuddin Zulkipli.

He said the distribution would be carried out at 35 Fama operational centres, in addition to 416 Fama-guided entrepreneur outlets, and through the Agro Madani Sales programme in 102 locations, as well as 726 selected sundry shops.

“To date, a total of 1,321.6 tonnes, or 132,160 10kg bags of local white rice worth RM3.37mil have been distributed nationwide.

“We managed to distribute almost 90% of local white rice across the country and it is subject to the available stock.

“So far, we do not have issues with suppliers,” he said after launching the Go Cashless programme at Mat Frozen Agrobazaar Rakyat in Kampung Padang Tembak here yesterday, Bernama reported.

Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said during a briefing in the Dewan Rakyat on Monday that Fama and the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (LPP) had been directed to increase the distribution of local white rice to urban and rural areas.

He added that since local white rice sales margin is only 50sen per 10kg pack at the retail level, the government had agreed to cover the transportation costs for Fama and LPP in distributing local white rice.

Meanwhile, several groups welcomed the formation of task forces between Malaysia and Thailand, saying it was a timely move to boost agricultural cooperation and promote tourism in both countries.

Pertubuhan Persaudaraan Pesawah Malaysia (Pesawah) special functions exco member Abdul Rashid Yob said through the task forces, Malaysia would be able to gain knowledge, be open to new ideas, learn from Thai experts, and explore new technologies to help the country’s agriculture sector.

He said Thailand’s success, particularly in the field of agriculture, was a result of good governance at all levels, including marketing, management, and the value chain.

“Malaysia should look into the aspects of governance and administrative management; it must be transparent in order to prevent misconduct and malpractice at all levels,” he told Bernama.

Kedah Fishermen’s Association chairman Azmi Bahri said he hopes the cooperation between Malaysia and Thailand would facilitate a number of procedures, such as work permit applications and labour recruitment.

Malaysian Chinese Tourism Association (Perak Chapter) president Law Weng Sum said the formation of the task forces comes at the right time as a prelude to Visit Perak Year 2024, which will promote the state’s tourism industry to Thai tourists.

Malaysia Agency Tourism Association president Datuk Dr Mohd Khalid Harun said the task forces served as a good platform for both countries to learn about the tourism ecosystem.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said Malaysia and Thailand had agreed to form a number of task forces to boost cooperation in agriculture, tourism, security, trade and business, including the halal sector.

Anwar, in revealing this during a joint press conference with his Thai counterpart Srettha Thavisin, at the Prime Minister’s Office here, said they had given a one-month timeframe to submit a report on the outcome of the task forces.

Published Date: October 14, 2023