MPOB urges SMEs to tap into food, health-based segments

KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been urged to tap into the food and health-based segments, particularly palm-based finished products.

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Product Development and Advisory Services Director, Rosidah Radzian, said the agency was ready to help with grants and technical support for them to venture into the business. 

"These (grants and technical support) are made available to help the companies which are up and running," she told reporters after the forum on Commercialising Downstream Business in Palm Food and Health here on Wednesday.

Rosidah said the companies would undergo several evaluation stages and the agency would closely monitor the progress of the grants given them to ensure that the project would be successful.

She said the SMEs should look into palm-based tocotrienol in the health products as well as cosmetics products.

"The involvement of tocotrienol in the finished product will create a higher value for export purpose and simultaneously expand the usage of the material in the international market," she said. 

Malaysia is the second largest palm oil producer and the first producer of tocotrienol. 

Under the Entry Point Project 8 of the Economic Transformation Programme, the government has allocated RM30 million grant this year to boost activities in the food and health-based segment.

Director of National Key Economic Areas Palm Oil and Rubber, Economic Transformation Programme, Investment and Innovation, Ku Kok Peng, said the grant allocation was meant to expedite the growth in food and health-based downstream segment.

"We want to promote high value-added palm based food products in the local market as well as internationally," he said.- Bernama