KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysia Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Exhibition (MAHA) 2024, which entered its seventh day today, has recorded 2.3 million visitors.
Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA) director-general Abdul Rashid Bahri said he was confident that the target of three million visitors to MAHA 2024, currently being held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang (MAEPS) from Sept 11 to Sept 22, will be achieved soon.
"(So far, the value of) direct sales has reached RM17.30 million, and the value of MoUs (Memoranda of Understanding) and MoAs (Memoranda of Agreement) is RM3.1 billion, compared to the RM6 billion target," he said during an interview on Bernama TV's Ruang Bicara programme here tonight.
He said this year's MAHA comprised five clusters: Kingdom of Agro Food, Food Empire & Food Viral, Food Truck Fiesta, Food Trade, and Rhythm of Farmers.
"Last year, the 'Kingdom of Agro Food' cluster, which sells seedlings, fruits, and vegetables, recorded the highest sales at over RM4 million, and this year we are targeting RM5 million. Currently, we have reached RM3 million.
"We have five segments in Food Empire, featuring the best of the best from four states: Gulai Tempoyak from Pahang, Nasi Ambeng from Selangor, Mi Bandung from Muar, Johor, and Nasi Ganja from Perak," he said, adding that a total of 1,001 types of food and drinks are being sold at MAHA this year.
Meanwhile, Abdul Rashid said that during the first three days of MAHA 2024, they brought in 62 potential buyers from overseas to meet prospective exporters in the country, generating RM662 million in potential sales through more than 750 business matches.
"We found that many Malaysian products actually have the potential to go international, but sometimes they do not get the opportunity to go abroad. So, what our ministry (the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security) does, is bring these buyers from abroad to see and meet, as well as conduct business matching with potential exporters from Malaysia," he said.