KUALA LUMPUR – Former plantation industries and commodities minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin today urged her successor to accord proper attention to spurring market expansion, product and service marketability, research and development, and application of innovation and technology.
This, she said, was necessary as the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry (MPIC) had great potential to be a self-sustainable and money-generating ministry.
“MPIC could in the future push for consolidation of oil palm plantations and rubber estates under one roof to foster effective and sustainable management.
“The Global Movement to Champion the Goodness of Palm Oil campaign has been very fruitful as an international platform to spark awareness about the high quality of Malaysian palm oil, as well as to counter the various misinformation and false information levelled at our golden oil,” she said in a statement.
She also proposed the streamlining of the cooking oil subsidy programme under one single agency – for example, under MPIC for better distribution and price control as opposed to the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry.
“This will prevent overlapping and confusion as to which authority should have the final say pertaining to the pricing or price control mechanism of cooking oil. What more since the Domestic Trade Ministry is overburdened with consumer affairs matters across all products,” she said.
Zuraida also encouraged the future plantation industries and commodities minister to look into the threshold for qualifying commodity products.
“The reason I moot this idea is simply because the expansion into various profitable commodities such as pineapples, coconuts and durians – all of which boast export potential if properly managed. (This can) justify MPIC’s role as an income-generating commodity ministry.
“This is apart from its key focus of boosting major commodity crops such as palm oil rubber, timber, cocoa, pepper and fibre. Perhaps it is time for the Rural and Regional Development Ministry to focus on the community and related matters, and allow MPIC to manage all commodities,” she added. – The Vibes, November 27, 2022
