Holland is opening a regional office for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality here this month (September), to reciprocate Malaysia’s posting of an agricultural attaché to Amsterdam in January. The regional office, which will also cover the Philippines and Singapore.
The Netherlands accounts for nearly a quarter of European vegetable exports and is a major producer and international trader of flowers, meat and meat products, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, chocolate, starch derivatives and seed.
Despite a steady decline in the number of farms over the past 50 years, Dutch production has not been affected due to advancements in yield technology.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said that despite its small size and population of only 16 million, the Netherlands was only second to the United States in food production.
The Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Authority (Mardi) has signed an MoU with Holland’s Wageningen University and Research Centre, which is one of Europe’s foremost agri-food research centres.
“As of 2005, The Netherlands is the 10th largest importer of Malaysian products and a leading importer of palm oil, palm-oil based products and timber/wood furniture.
“The regional offices (in Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur) will help to enhance bilateral relations in agriculture and sustainable development,” Dutch Ambassador to Malaysia Lody Embrechts said.
In 2004, The Netherlands had about 12,600 arable farms that employed nearly 26,500 people, and 1,469 organic farms. The predominant arable crops are cereals (especially wheat), fodder crops, sugar beet, table potatoes and legumes.
The total area under arable crops is 820,000ha. Noord-Brabant, Gelderland and Overijssel have the most arable farms. In recent years, rapeseed is being grown in the northern provinces and its oil is processed to fuel cars and ships.
The Netherlands is also often associated with flower bulbs, cheese and eggs.
Unilever, a Netherlands MNC food company has become a household name in Malaysia Malaysia
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