KUALA TERENGGANU, Jan 12 — McCormick Global Ingredients Malaysia Sdn Bhd has chosen Terengganu to become its food-based investment hub with an investment value of more than RM360 million through a high-impact mega project involving black pepper farming in Setiu.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Samsuri Mokhtar said this was in line with the state government’s policy via the Terengganu Agricultural Strategic Plan 2019-2023 that focuses on food crop production.
He said the US-based company had conducted a proof-of-concept (POC) black pepper cultivation on 20 hectares of land in Mukim Merah in Setiu since 2015 based on smart farming using the Internet of Things (IoT) applications.
“The POC outcome was very positive, prompting McCormick to be ready to increase its investment in Terengganu for commercial scale,” he said.
Ahmad Samsuri said this at the agreement signing ceremony for the black pepper plantation project in Setiu between the Terengganu State Heritage Trust Board (LTAWNT) and Terengganu Agrotech Development Corporation Sdn Bhd (TADC) with McCormick, here today.
He said for the implementation of the black pepper plantation project, the state government has agreed to provide 600 hectares of land located besides the POC site.
“Investment such as this will benefit the state as well as the people, which will come from the economic spillover effects from the project.
“It also gives the impression to other foreign investors that Terengganu always provide opportunities to any investor to come to the state and invest in any industry such as agriculture, petrochemical and so on,” he said.
Through this project, he said, the state government is eyeing to create 2,000 potential job opportunities for the people in Terengganu.
State Agriculture, Food Industry, Plantation, Commodity, and Rural Development Committee chairman Azman Ibrahim said this project would be implemented in several phases and the first plantation is expected to commence in September.
“The black pepper plant takes about three years to harvest and can be harvested twice a year and the harvesting process requires full human labour. So we expect that many job opportunities will be provided later, thus reducing the unemployment rate in the surrounding areas,” he said.
Besides that, he said the technology used in the agriculture field in Terengganu especially in Setiu can be enhanced with the sharing of expertise to produce high-quality products and ensure they are competitive at the global stage, in line with the declaration of Setiu as the state’s food production warehouse. — Bernama
