NATIONAL COCOA INDUSTRY TO BE STRENGTHENED FURTHER TO REDUCE IMPORTS

KANGAR (Malaysia), March 8 (Bernama) -- The national cocoa industry will be
strengthened further to reduce dependence on imports of the commodity, said
Deputy Plantations and Commodities Minister, Hamzah Zainuddin.

He said demand for cocoa in the local market was very high with 11
manufacturers needing 250,000 tonnes annually compared to a production capacity
of just 20,000 tonnes.

Speaking to reporters after witnessing the first harvest of the season at
the Padang Malau cocoa farm here today, Hamzah said the bulk of cocoa imports
were from Indonesia, Ghana and Ivory Coast.

He said towards realising the objective of reducing dependency on imports,
the Malaysian Cocoa Board targeted increasing the acreage for cocoa planting to
over 40,000 hectares by 2020.

The acreage at present was 25,000 hectares, a far cry from the 400,000
hectares some 15 years ago, he said, adding that the reduction had been due to
farmers opting to plant oil palm, which promised better profits then.

-- BERNAMA