BY KHIRTINI K KUMARAN

It served as a platform for agricommodity players to network , conduct higherlevel trade transactions , and break into international markets in a conducive business environment .

It helped increase the country ’ s Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ) and advance the goal of positioning the agri-commodity industry as one of the most significant contributors to its wealth .

MIACES also bridged the gap between industry players , accelerating digitalisation to build a sustainable ecosystem to improve quality .

The expo and summit featured the latest plantation technology , services , and commodities under one roof .

It also featured the contributions of the industry ’ s key players and other events , including conferences , roundtable

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob launches MIACES 2022 .

discussions , business-to-business ( B2B ) meetings , and a prestigious awards night to recognise the industry players ’ contributions .

The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities ( MPIC ), with the support of agencies and councils under the Ministry , organised MIACES , which took place from July 26 to 28 , 2022 , at MITEC Kuala Lumpur .

Launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob , the three-day event attracted more than 10,000 visitors and 350 companies from 39 countries . This event was the first organised after the country ’ s border gates were opened .

Agricommodity driving the nation ’ s socio-economic development

The inaugural event , themed ‘ Advancing Agricommodity in Sustainable Ecosystem ’, focused on the palm oil , rubber , timber , cocoa , pepper and kenaf sectors , among the main economic drivers .

It created a lot of potential to help Malaysia ’ s agricommodity sector reach its target export value of RM300 billion this year .

“ The country ’ s Agricommodity sector is important and has such a big role because it is the backbone of the country ’ s socio-economic development ,” said Ismail Sabri .

“ The importance of this sector cannot

be denied because the agricommodity sector is one of the largest contributors to the country ’ s exports which reached RM209 billion last year , in addition to contributing as much as RM84 billion to the Gross Domestic Product ( GDP ).”

Throughout the implementation of the National Commodity Policy ( DKN ) 2011-2020 , various successes have been achieved by the Agricommodity Sector , said MPIC Minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin .

“ The country ’ s export of agricommodity products in 2021 amounted to RM209 billion , a significant increase of 38.4 per cent compared to the total export in 2020 of RM151 billion .

“ The oil palm sector is the largest contributor with a total of RM108 billion , followed by rubber and timber with RM71 billion and RM22.7 billion respectively .

“ From January to May 2022 , agricommodity exports recorded a total of RM87.6 billion , an increase of 2.7 per cent compared to RM85.3 billion in the same period in 2021 .

“ This indirectly shows the important role of the Agricommodity Sector in driving the country ’ s economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic .”

Malaysia is currently in an endemic transition phase with economic strengthening and the reopening of international borders . Therefore , the Agricommodity Sector is structured to