Ministry optimistic of exporting fresh Musang King to China next year

BANGKOK: The Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry is expected to receive the approval for fresh whole fruit "Musang King" durian export to China next year.
Ministry deputy secretary-general Datuk Mohd Salehhuddin Hassan said negotiations with the Chinese government on Musang King export to the country was positive.
"Negotiations with the Chinese government proceeded positively. We have met their enquiries in terms of fruit safety and security. We hope to obtain approval next year but it depended on the negotiation," he told Bernama recently.
He was attending a Durian Fiesta at the Malaysian embassy here in conjunction with acquiring export approval for fresh Malaysian Musang King into the Thai market.
According to Salehhuddin, at the moment Musang King can not be exported to China in fresh whole fruit but was allowed to be exported in pulp, frozen and chilled form.
The demand for Musang King was extremely high in China which caused the Malaysian king of fruit to cost more than RM300 per kilogramme in the country.
"After several major promotions in China, the residents there now know the real taste of Musang King and they are actually waiting for the fruit to enter the market in the country," he said.
Durian fans in China according to him, are willing to spend to enjoy delicious Musang King from Malaysia.
The high demand in China has also resulted in some fruit traders there to label Thai durians as Musang King to exploit high price of Malaysian durians, he said.
Salehuddin said the Chinese market was also important to ensure the increasing number of durian producers in Malaysia have a market for their fruits.
Based on a survey by the Agriculture Department three months ago, Malaysia has about 500,000 mature Musang King durian trees with a large portion of them in Raub and Bentong.
At the moment, private entrepreneurs are investing in hundreds of acres of Musang King durian trees.
With the increasing number of planters of Musang King, he said the ministry needed seek access to the largest durian market in the world in China quickly. — Bernama