By Ling Hui
KUCHING, May 29: Austria is happy to assist the Sarawak government towards its ambitious plan of becoming a net food exporter by 2030, says Ambassador of Austria to Malaysia His Excellency Andreas Launer.
He said Austria can contribute to the positive development of Sarawak, especially in agriculture modernisation.
“Austria has great technology in the areas of smart plantation, agriculture, sustainable agriculture, and organic farming, but also in terms of reforestation, and other areas.
“We would be delighted to share our experiences with Sarawak. An international cooperation is more important than ever.
“It’s not necessary to reinvent something new, but to share international experiences and to work together,” he told the press after a courtesy call to Sarawak Minister for Food Industry, Commodity and Regional Development Dato Sri Dr Stephen Rundi Utom at the Sarawak Legislative Assembly (DUN) Complex here today.
Meanwhile, Dr Rundi said Sarawak has to move fast in order to reach its goal by 2030, and the only way to do it is through technology.
He said small growers or farmers especially in the rural areas must be at par in terms of capability to produce quality food products.
“We have identified certain crops which are of high value, such as durian, pineapple, banana and coconut that can be developed into industrial scale.
“And I’m very grateful they mentioned pepper. To me, pepper used to be our (Sarawak’s) bread and butter, and people moved on to oil palm, but we will be going back to it,” he added.
Dr Rundi also thanked Launer for the pleasant and fruitful exchange today. — DayakDaily
