Sarawak-government signs MOU with Sarawak-Dutch consortium
KUCHING: Sarawak Government Ministry of Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development (M-FICORD) have recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sarawak Metropolitan Food Cluster (SFMC) Consortium, a Sarawak-Dutch outfit to develop Metropolitan Food Clusters, the first in the region.
The signing was witnessed by The Right Honourable Premier, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri (Dr) Haji Abang Abdul Rahman Zohari bin Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg together with the Netherlands Ambassador to Malaysia His Excellency Jacques Werner.
The successful MFC concept used by the Netherlands addresses food production chains and sustainability issues by transforming rural landscapes in close proximity to urbanized areas into circular economy, climate robust, technologically advance, sustainable food production areas through optimization of agro-logistics, linking food production areas to internal and external markets that positively impacts social and economic development. It consists of the integration of key elements in the agricultural ecosystem namely, horticulture/green houses, livestock, animal feed production, aquaculture, processing centres, consolidation and collection centres, among others.
Netherlands Ambassador to Malaysia His Excellency Jacques Werner stated that, “This gathering and partnership comes at a very timely juncture where Sarawak, now through joining forces with the Netherlands, embarks on a journey to revolutionize Sarawak's agriculture industry while at the same time, answering to the UN Sustainable Development Goals via the MFC concept and approach with the focus on innovation of the agri-food systems and digital transformations.”
The first step in this endeavour as a sign of commitment moving forward was also officiated via the launch of the ‘The First Sarawak-Dutch Food Security Workshop’. The round-table workshop was to be the first meeting between all parties involved in ensuring Sarawak’s food security ecosystem and will act as a briefing and fact finding for agriculture development plans and feasibility of Dutch innovation and concepts in Sarawak.
The confirmed attendees of the workshop include leading Dutch Food Industry Companies, Knowledge Institutes, Private Sector companies in Sarawak together with all relevant Government sectors.
Also present were YB Dato Sri Dr. Stephen Rundi Minister of Food Industry, Commodities & Regional Development, the Agriculture Counsellor Accredited to Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore from The Netherlands Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Mr. Joost van Uum, YB Datuk Dr. Haji Abdul Rahman, YB Tuan McClaine Ben, Datu Edwin Permanent Secretary of MFICORD, among others.
The entire event can also be accessed in the following video:
This short 2 minutes video captured the 2 days event where the Sarawak Government signs an MOU with the Sarawak-Dutch Consortium at the First Sarawak-Dutch Food Security Workshop from the 17-18th January 2023 in Malaysia.