KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 18 — The Malaysian Agriculture, Horticulture and Agrotourism Show (Maha) 2024, which entered its eighth day today, recorded 2.3 million visitors as of yesterday.
Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority director-general Abdul Rashid Bahri said he was confident the target of three million visitors to Maha 2024, currently being held at the Malaysia Agro Exposition Park Serdang until September 22, will be achieved soon.
“(So far, the value of) direct sales has reached RM17.3 million, and the value of MOUs (memorandums of understanding) and MOAs (memorandums of agreement) is RM3.1 billion, compared with the RM6 billion target,” he said during an interview on Bernama TV last night.
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 the 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, Rashid said 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 Agriculture and Food Security Ministry) does, is bring these buyers from abroad to see and meet, as well as conduct business matching with potential exporters from Malaysia,” he said.
— Bernama
