Malaysia's durian export to China will not affect Thailand's domination: Ahmad Shabery

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's effort to export durians to China will not affect the export domination of Thailand as the market in the republic is huge, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek said.
He said durian products from Malaysia and Thailand were different and had their own followings in China.
"I believe we don't have to worry since durians from Thailand have their own followings, and this (festival) is Malaysia's opportunity to highlight our products such as the 'Musang King' and 'Black Thorn'.
"The market potential in China is huge, it does not mean that we will take over all the existing market because not all Chinese love to eat durian, but if we can get more people to eat durian through activities such as the durian festival, it will become a huge market," he told reporters after a briefing session to entrepreneurs who were joining the 2017 Malaysia Durian Festival (MDF2017) in Nanning, China here today.
Recently, an international news portal reported that China's readiness to allow Malaysia to export the fresh durians was seen as to end Thailand's domination as the biggest exporter of the 'king of fruits' to the republic.
However, he said the demand for Malaysia's 'Musang King' has dramatically increased, and the ministry obtained approval to bring five tonnes of fresh durians, including the premium durian products to the MDF 2017.
Ahmad Shabery will lead the Malaysian delegation to the three-day festival in Nanning, Guanxi province, beginning this Wednesday.
Previously, Malaysia was only allowed to export the frozen and paste durian products to China, with a market value of RM23.52 million and RM18.02 million, respectively in 2015 and 2016.
At the same time, Singapore had also expressed fear that the republic might only receive the second grade of durians if Malaysia were to focus more on China.
Commenting on the matter, Ahmad Shabery said Malaysia would continue to send the high grade durians to Singapore, provided they were willing to pay a high return to the Malaysian durian entrepreneurs.
Meanwhile, according to a statement from the ministry, besides five tonnes 'Musang King', fruit products such as honey jackfruit and pineapple, as well as the agro-based industry products would also to be sent to the festival.
The festival would provide platforms to the involved entrepreneurs to join the business matching sessions that have been arranged with 400 entrepreneurs from China. — Bernama