Agriculture sectors to continue operating throughout national recovery phases

KUALA LUMPUR (Bernama): The agriculture sectors involving crops, livestock, fisheries and food industries will continue to operate following the standard operating procedures of the National Security Council throughout Phases Two, Three and Four of the National Recovery Plan.

Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee said he would ensure that these sectors continue to operate without any disruption during the movement control order to ensure the continuity of the economic chain and the operators involved.

In a statement on Thursday (June 24), he said, until Wednesday (June 23), the ministry had issued a total of 105,869 letters of permission for involvement in the agriculture sector, including supply chain and marketing activities related to food needs.

Earlier, he inspected the operations at PT Swift Marketing Sdn Bhd's swiftlet bird nest processing plant to ensure that its operations for the export market were not disrupted and continued at all times.

On the country's swiftlet bird nest industry, Ronald said until last April, the industry's total exports reached 962 metric tonnes with a value of RM714mil, indicating that exports of this commodity remained strong, especially at a time when the country was still facing the Covid-19 pandemic.

Last year, its total exports were 3,640 tonnes worth RM 1.385bil and the previous year it was 5,654 tonnes worth RM1.154bil, he said.- Bernama