HIGH TECH CALLED KEY TO NETHERLANDS AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS

Nor Faridah Abd Rashid
KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- The Netherlands is just the size of the
state of Pahang, yet it is among the world’s three largest exporters of
agricultural products.

How can this be when about 27 per cent of the country remains below sea
level?

Innovation and high technology are the answers, according to the
Netherlands’ ambassador to Malaysia, Paul Bekkers.

The Netherlands has developed high technology for its agricultural products,
which led to high growth per square inch, he told Bernama during a recent
interview.

“The Netherlands is a very small country with a lot of people. We have to be
very careful with that scarce land. There has been a lot of innovations and
technology developed, meaning the productivity per sq inch is very high,” he
said.

Bekkers added that his country has vast experience and expertise in managing
its agriculture amid the limited land that is available, as well as in how to
manage water through the construction of dikes.

And it would like to share this expertise with Malaysia.

“We have a lot of experience here… innovations in agricultural products.
Malaysia could use what we have learned. We had to (create innovations) because
of our history and geographical features,” he added.

The ambassador personally feels that the technique and concepts used for
agricultural products in the Netherlands for crops, such as cauliflower or its
renowned tulips, could also be used for Malaysia’s oil palm plantations.

"The future in oil palm will be to have higher produce per hectare. Of
course, you would not want to use more land for that," he said.

"There’s a lot of scientific research going on here in which we could help,
maybe not specifically on palm oil, but it is all pretty much related," he
added.

The envoy pointed out that the Netherlands is the largest consumer of palm
oil in Europe and that two-thirds of the oil from Malaysia entered Europe via
Rotterdam, the second largest port in the world.

Apart from palm oil, the Netherlands also purchased large amounts of
Malaysia’s timber and manufacturing products, he said.

Bekkers noted that 50 percent of the timber which the Netherlands purchased
came from Malaysia and, in this aspect, sustainability was very important to the
Netherlands.

“We have a commercial interest but also, of course, interest in sustainable
production. Worldwide, to have the right picture is very important,” he added.

According to the Lowell Centre for Production, sustainable production is the
creation of goods and services using processes and systems that are:

* Non-polluting;

* Conserving of energy and natural resources;

* Economically viable;

* Safe and healthful for workers, communities, and consumers; and

* Socially and creatively rewarding for all working people.

If production is sustainable, then the environment, employees, communities,
and organizations all benefit.

These conditions can lead, always in the long term and even in the short
term, to more economically viable and productive enterprises, according to the
centre.

Bekkers said that Sabah is a very good example and it is important that
people see this side of Malaysia.

"If you look at Sabah, I think it is doing a wonderful job, as there has
been a lot of logging but now, globally, it really sets the standards of how to
preserve the forests," said Bekkers, who recently toured Sabah, an East Malaysia
state.

Touching on the Netherlands’ investments in Malaysia, he said that his
country was either the sixth or seventh largest investor in Malaysia, while
trade from Malaysia to the Netherlands was “booming.”

"Trade is, of course, flourishing but we would like to see it even better,"
said the envoy, who has been posted to Malaysia for one-and-a-half years.