KUALA LUMPUR: The Northern Corridor Implementation Authority (NCIA) has established the Northern Corridor Economic Region (NCER)'s AgriBio Economic Zone (NAEZ) in collaboration with the private sector.
The NAEZ aims to modernise and add value to Malaysia's agri-food industry whilst reducing the nation's import dependency.
NAEZ is NCIA's response to the National Agrofood Policy (NAP), which plans to improve the efficiency of the agri-food industry, particularly in driving productivity and competitiveness across the industry value chain.
It is projected to attract more than RM2.5 billion in investments and create more than 2,000 job opportunities.
"NAEZ will play a critical role in elevating Perlis' strategic position near the Thailand border to attract potential investors to create an economic catalyst which will develop high technology industries in the agri-food sector, where cross-border trade and collaborations will provide Malaysia with the impetus to move away from being an import dependent nation to a net exporter in terms of food supply," said Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man after chairing the state's second Jawatankuasa Pemandu Negeri (JPN) meeting for 2022.
The initiative incorporates a fully integrated end-to-end value chain embedded within the zone, supported by various facilitations and key enablers such as technology, research and development, commercial, human capital, and financing.
NCIA chief executive Mohamad Haris Kader Sultan said that with the state government, NCIA is focused on providing the necessary expertise to develop NAEZ into a regional hub for modernised farming.
"As the world grapples with uncertainty due to the current food crisis, this is an opportunity to transform Malaysia's agricultural industry by linking smallholder farmers with the larger agriculture industry to upscale the nation's nutrition and market access. NCIA is facilitating that link," he added.
To revitalise the farming industry with young new farmers, NCIA has appointed FigDirect Sdn Bhd (FigDirect), a local company in Perlis, to set up the Perlis Superfruits Valley in Chuping.
The project has since produced more than 20 commercial downstream products, such as freeze-dried yoghurt bites (passion fruit, fig, avocado, and gac), fig juice, fig tea leaf, fig coffee, fig oil, fig vinegar, and fig and lemon botanical beverages.