Call for more seed companies to invest in Malaysia

More seed companies should come to Malaysia and seek opportunities for research collaboration as well as produce seeds, said Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Salahuddin Ayub.

He said there are now only one local and one foreign seed production company based in the country.

"Most of the other local companies here are seed traders, and Malaysia is known as a transit country for the import and export of seeds due to our strategic location," he said when opening the 2019 Asian Seed Congress here today.

Salahuddin also told the audience that with climate change standing at the world's doorsteps, decreasing size of agricultural land and environmental issues, it is important that seeds of great quality be used in agriculture.

In this regard, he said, high-yielding, early-maturing, pest- and disease-tolerant and extreme climate-tolerant varieties are very important to help increase the production of food crops and vegetables for world consumption.

Some 1,400 delegates from 48 countries representing 520 seed companies are taking part in the congress, which runs until Friday.

The Asia and Pacific Seed Association (APSA) and National Seed Association Malaysia (NSAM) are joint organisers of the event.