KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia’s cocoa products exports are expected to increase to RM4.5 billion this year from RM4.2 billion last year, says Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.
He said local cocoa products such as cocoa butter, cocoa powder and cocoa paste as well as chocolates and cocoa-based confectionaries are exported to over 80 countries.
“Among the major markets for the local cocoa products include the United States, Europe, China and Southeast Asian countries,” he said when opening the International Cocoa, Coffee and Consumer Show 2011 yesterday.
Dompok said the Malaysian cocoa industry had indeed demonstrated a successful transformation of the Malaysian commodity sector from a mere traditional producer of raw materials to an exporter of higher value-added products. He said Malaysia was no longer the main producer of cocoa beans but the country has been ranked as the largest cocoa grinder in the the Asia-Pacific region and the fifth biggest grinder in the world after Germany, the Us, Ivory Coast and the Netherlands.
Dompok said, “Though the industry has come a long way, I believe opportunities are still plentiful for our cocoa industry.
“As the global society becomes more affluent, the demand for cocoa products is expected to increase.” He also believed that the International Cocoa, Coffee and Comsumer Show 2011 was an additional factor and incentive to develop the related industries and facilitate entrepreneurs to explore business opportunities. — Bernama
(Source: http://www.theborneopost.com/?p=131739)
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