XI’AN, May 24 — Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today discussed with local entrepreneur Tie Ming Liang the possibility of opening an Agrobazaar Malaysia here.

“Tie told me that he was looking for a suitable premises in the city centre to open an Agrobazaar in a joint venture with a Malaysian company.

“He also agreed to be the distributor for Malaysian halal products for Shaanxi, Xinjiang, Gansu and Ningxia provinces, which have many Chinese Muslims.

“This could make Xi’an the gateway for Malaysian halal products to China,” he told Bernama after the meeting.

Ismail Sabri said Tie, a Chinese Muslim who owns a halal restaurant and a shop selling halal products on Muslim Street here, has been selling Malaysian halal products such as instant coffee, manggo juice, chicken nuggets, biscuits, and frozen goods for the last four years.

Response from the local Muslim community to the products has been good, said the minister, who also visited the booths at the Malaysia-Xi’an Halal Week expo which he will officially open tomorrow.

The fair, which began today, ends on May 31.

Ismail Sabri is on a nine-day working visit to China from yesterday to promote Malaysian halal products in Xi’an, Chengdu, Suining, Fujian, Shenzen and Hong Kong.

The delegation includes senior officers from the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA), Farmers Organisation Authority (LPP), Malaysian Pineapple Industry Board (LPNM), Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia (LKIM) and Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (KADA). — Bernama