PETALING JAYA: The government is exploring the possibility of private companies growing food and rearing animals in other countries and bringing them back home to enhance supply.
Agriculture and food security minister Mohamad Sabu said general guidelines had been provided to private companies interested in such reverse investments abroad, Bernama reported.
He said this will require these companies to bring home the food produce grown or reared in other countries to meet domestic needs.
He said agricultural activities could be carried out as joint ventures or in partnership in the countries concerned.
Winding up the debate on the royal address at the Dewan Negara today, Mohamad said countries like Indonesia, Australia, Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan and India had been found suitable for reverse investments to produce cattle, buffalo, goat and sheep meat.
Indonesia was ideal for maize and other animal feed production, he added.
Mohamad also spoke of graduates in agriculture who were not employed in the field after finishing their studies.
He said this could be due to the slow return of earnings, sometimes taking up to a year.
Therefore, the ministry was encouraging youths and agriculture graduates to be involved actively by providing various allocations via Agrobank.