(Bukit Gantang, 1st) Chairman of the Food Task Force of the National Action Council on Cost of Living (NACCOL), Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, believes that the government's proposal to import white rice from Pakistan is a potential method to end the domestic white rice price and supply crisis.
He mentioned that this proposal has been conveyed to our country's sole white rice importer, the National Rice Company (BERNAS).
“I recently accompanied the Prime Minister to Pakistan, where they requested us to purchase 100,000 tons of white rice through 28 exporters ready to sell to us.
“Currently, with the permission of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar, I have informed the National Rice Company of this proposal, but our follow-up actions have not yet been finalized.”
Datuk Syed Abu Hussin Hafiz Syed Abdul Fasal, who is also the Member of Parliament for Bukit Gantang, stated this today via video link at the first phase of the Meihua Garden Hall.
During Anwar's visit to Pakistan on October 3 last year, he expressed the government's willingness to purchase 100,000 tons of white rice from Pakistan, but further research is needed, particularly regarding the price mechanism, and there is also interest in importing meat from the country.
Moreover, Saifuddin Nasution defended the suggestion to establish a white rice price tier to prevent local white rice prices from being manipulated.
He added that this suggestion will continue to be presented at the next parliamentary meeting to ensure the issue of local white rice price manipulation can be resolved.
“I previously suggested that the mix pricing of domestic white rice and imported white rice nationwide should be set at 30 MYR per 10-kilogram bag of rice.
“This is to avoid mixing local white rice with imported white rice and selling it at a higher price, while currently the top price for 10 kilograms of local white rice is about 26 MYR.”