NEW YORK, Sept 27 — Malaysia will undertake a structural recalibration in its economic direction, giving greater focus towards enhancing the agriculture sector while maintaining its momentum in the industrial growth sector, said Economic Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali.
Azmin said this during the panel discussion at a side event of the United Nations General Assembly here entitled “Environmental Stewardship in Addressing Poverty to Achieve Sustainable Development for All”.
“The agriculture sector is going to be very important in our efforts to launch the Malaysian economy to the next level.
“Generally, the number of poverty cases are higher in states whose economies are driven by agricultural activities.
“Therefore, it is imperative that the government correct the imbalance in wealth distribution and reduce disparity between income classes, ethnic groups, territories and supply chain,” he added.
Azmin said that over time and as the Malaysian economy grew, what was regarded as above the poverty line in the past was now below the poverty line.
“Therefore, Malaysia has taken a comprehensive view to measure the poverty line with the introduction of the Multidimensional Poverty Index, which takes into account demographic factors, education, health and standard of living to provide a clearer picture of the socioeconomic needs of society.
“This is among the core objectives of the Shared Prosperity Vision that will be undertaken by Malaysia as its long-term development plan for the next 10 years,” he added.
He said that as a start, Malaysia must deepen its research and development on mixed farming so that the agriculture sector did not entirely rely on rubber and palm oil but instead also devote land for cash crops such as vegetables, fruits and flowers that were much in demand by the global market.
“Presently, Malaysia’s food import bill in 2018 stands at more than RM50 billion and is growing year by year.
“Crops such as bananas, coconuts, chillies, corn, ginger and mushroom are examples of crops that we are importing at the moment and can certainly be replaced with local production.
“To achieve this, we need economies of scale in our production. Farmers with two or three acres of land are not able to make enough money to earn a living.
“Hence, our new approach will amalgamate smaller farms to be managed professionally, efficiently and thus generating higher income for the farmers,” he said.
Azmin said the agriculture sector could also be enhanced through smart farming.
“The adoption of new technology involving artificial intelligence, automation, big data analytics, drones and robotics would provide a solid foundation for precision agriculture as we look forward to improve the productivity of this sector.
“This necessitates developing high-skill human capital such as farm managers that are professionally-certified and able to maximise production as well as manage the farms professionally and efficiently.
“This also creates new high-income jobs that are crucial in uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the agriculture workforce as one of the measures to increase their purchasing power,” he added.
