KOTA KINABALU, March 9 — Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu said the export of processed food products with halal status has now successfully penetrated more than 150 countries which includes 1.8 billion Muslims globally.

He said the market is wide open and with redoubled efforts, it is not impossible that one day Malaysia’s local halal products will not only be concentrated in Muslim-majority countries but will also become the product of choice and have a high demand in all corners of the world.

“It is the desire of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM) to see local products penetrate the international market,” he said.

“Therefore, KPKM and other related ministries always support the efforts of the local food industry activists to develop products and services at the global level via various government incentives whether in the form of advisory services, training, funding grants and tax incentives.”

He said this when officiating the Sabah International Food Expo 2024 (SIFEX2024) at the Sabah International Convention Centre (SICC) here today.

SIFEX2024 highlights food products, beverages, SMI (small and medium industries) products and fruits involving 300 business booths to be filled by entrepreneurs from Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsular Malaysia as well as foreign participants. The three-day event, which started yesterday, ends tomorrow (Sunday) and is open from 10am to 8pm.

Meanwhile, Mohamad Sabu said digital technology in the Industrial Revolution 4.0 era is currently affecting all levels of the agro-food value chain.

“Digitalisation coupled with innovation and eco-innovation to gain a more sustainable competitive advantage. In other words, digital technology is the key to transforming the way food is produced, processed, sold and consumed,” he also said.

“In this context, we can always see the extraordinary success of entrepreneurs, especially among the youth who are more synonymous with social media influencers, successfully doubling their sources of income by increasing sales of local products through social media platforms,” he added.

Accordingly, he believes that the youth of Sabah are also capable of producing food products that can potentially be marketed and sold throughout the country using digital application platforms, both online and offline. — Bernama