Consortium to start self-sustaining beef industry in East M'sia

China and Australia are set to sign a deal for a million cattle worth A$1bil annually, which if done would be a major boost for the latter - EPA Photo.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry has initiated a consortium to create a self-sustaining local beef industry for export and local consumption in East Malaysia.

According to a statement, the consortium will establish a domestic cattle farm in Sabah and Sarawak to meet the growing local demand for beef.

The private venture, called Multinational Beef Valley Consortium Bhd, is to be headquartered in Malaysia and comprises Japan-based Hannan Foods Group Co. Ltd (Hannan Foods Group), China-based Shanghai Al-Amin Biotech Co. Ltd (Al-Amin Bio Group) and AiVerest Sdn Bhd.

"In addition, Beef Valley will also spearhead the development of research and development of beef by-products through the expertise of its consortium partner," it said.

Beef Valley is expected to break into the global beef market and generate revenue of not less than RM750mil per year upon full operational capacity with an enterprise value of not less than RM2bil.

"The consortium expects that it will take between seven to 10 years for the venture to reach its full capacity and maturity in terms of export capability," it said.

In 2017, Malaysia produced 52,000 tonnes of beef worth RM169mil and imported beef worth RM1.14 billion annually to meet local demand of about 191,000 tonnes.