Khazanah Research Institute pointed out food imports in Sarawak make up 12.6 per cent of total import.
KUCHING (Feb 8): Sarawak’s imports were valued at RM40.9 billion in 2020, showing a decrease of 8.3 per cent from the preceding year, a report by Khazanah Research Institute said.
It pointed out that food imports in Sarawak make up 12.6 per cent of the total import with an average increase of 4.3 per cent since 2018.
Overall, edible food commodities that record the highest import for Sarawak are cereal, where import value has steadied at over RM1 billion annually since 2013.
In addition, despite having a high self-sufficiency level (SSL) for fruits and vegetables, Sarawak still records a high import value for fruits and vegetables which is kept at above RM450 million annually.
It is noteworthy that the imported fruits and vegetables are mainly temperate and premium types which cannot be grown in East Malaysia’s climate.
The report, titled ‘The Paddy and Rice Industry of Sabah and Sarawak’, said Sarawak also registered considerably high import values of rice at RM270 million as well as other food products such as meat and dairy products, indicating high import dependency towards major food items.
As for export, it said Sarawak’s total export value stood at RM77.2 billion in 2020 with food export constituting only 3.9 per cent and 1.3 per cent of the total export.
It said Sarawak’s export is dominated by palm oil, constituting 21.2 per cent of the total export.
“Generally, the export of food products such as rice, fruits and vegetables has been low compared to the import of the same food commodities.
“Export for seafood products, however, remains at an average of RM300 million for Sarawak, indicating a vast potential of the fishery industry in uplifting East Malaysia’s food security.
“Generally, as food imports are significantly higher than food exports, both Sabah and Sarawak have been experiencing a high food trade deficit of RM4.7 billion and RM3.7 billion respectively since 2013,” it said.
The report also pointed out that trade in East Malaysia suffers from trade bias as most shipping companies prefer Port Klang over the ports in East Malaysia.
It said this is partly contributed by the lack of backhaul cargo as most containers coming from East Malaysia to Peninsular Malaysia are returned empty, which causes shipping companies to double their goods charges to cover the freight rate, making the trade to East Malaysia less favourable.
It said the stringent requirements of obtaining a permit to transport certain types of food (e.g. rice) from Peninsular Malaysia to East Malaysia and vice versa further add to the trade bias issue as it makes the transport of food more tedious.
“Besides that, companies are also imposed carriage charges due to the port’s poor infrastructure as well as high insurance owing to the instability of maritime security, especially in Sabah.
“It is easier to import directly from another country like Vietnam, than to move rice from Peninsular Malaysia,” it said.
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