Malaysia and Italy to work together in agriculture

obmar · Malaysia and Italy to work together in agriculture

Nation
Wednesday June 27, 2007

Malaysia and Italy to work together in agriculture

ROME: Malaysia and Italy have agreed to set up a joint committee to promote cooperation in agriculture.

The committee is being set up to formulate and implement the projects and objectives of a joint declaration on agriculture that the two governments signed here yesterday.

Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said a similar joint business council by the private sector would also be set up to assist in promoting agriculture-based trade.

“The areas of cooperation between the governments will include agriculture, livestock, fisheries, research and development, and agro-based and food-processing industries.

“Italy is well known for such sectors. But all this will not be effective without private sector involvement,” Muhyiddin told reporters after the signing of the declaration, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Muhyiddin said the present bilateral agriculture trade was RM1.15bil but this could still be improved.

On Italian agriculture expertise, Muhyiddin said Malaysia was especially interested in biotech knowledge as well as how they were dealing with the issue of genetically modified organisms in food.

“We, too, in Malaysia need to deal with this issue as there is more and more public interest in the matter. The Europeans are leading in the debate on this matter,” he added.

Muhyiddin said his ministry was also interested in Italian expertise in farm mechanisation.

The Inquisitor

Sorry obmar,

I know you've done this before, but could you spell out how much this is in US dollars for an old fart who suffers from CRAFT (Can't Remember A Friggin' Thing)

"Muhyiddin said the present bilateral agriculture trade was RM1.15bil but this could still be improved."

obmar

1.50Bilion MYR = 0.430155Bilion USD

well thanks to this currency converter facility is neat and always helpful.

http://www.xe.com/

The Inquisitor

$430 million is very helpful I'm sure. How much of your GDP comes from agriculture currently?

obmar

The Inquisitor

That's a very healthy growth rate, obmar.

obmar

Not as fast as China though....

The Inquisitor

China may be going too fast. Such a rise in GDP year after year can lead to inflation. I think that's why China tried to calm things down recently via its stock market.

obmar · Malaysia

Forecast
May 8th 2007
From the Economist Intelligence Unit
Source: Country Forecast

Country Forecast
Malaysia

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Although the next general election is not due until 2009, there is speculation that the prime minister, Abdullah Badawi, may decide to call it early. The decision by the dominant party in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), to postpone its leadership election (originally scheduled for 2007) enables the party to focus on the general election. Opposition parties will continue to press for reforms to the electoral process. Bank Negara Malaysia (the central bank) is expected to keep interest rates on hold in 2007. The Economist Intelligence Unit believes that the ringgit will average M$3.41:US1 in 2007 and M$3:35:US$1 in 2008. Real GDP is forecast to expand by an annual average of 5.7% in 2007-08, supported by growth in private consumption and investment. The current-account surplus will remain substantial in both 2007 and 2008.

Key changes from last update

Political outlook

The BN won another by-election with a huge majority in April. This, coupled with a convincing win for UMNO at the Batu-Talam by-election in January, will fuel speculation regarding an early parliamentary poll.

Economic policy outlook

The government is considering a proposal to build an oil refinery in the state of Kedah and a pipeline across northern Malaysia. The pipeline would reroute via the Malaysian peninsula the bulk of oil supplies from the Middle East to North-east Asia. Currently oil is shipped through the Malacca Strait.

Economic forecast

In view of the latest consumer price data, we have revised down our inflation forecast. We now expect consumer prices to increase by an average of 2.4% in 2007 (down from 3% previously) and 2.2% in 2008 (2.6% previously).