News From : DagangHalal.com (31 Mar 2010)
Bandar Seri Begawan – The Minister of Industry and Primary Resources Pehin Orang Kaya Seri Utama Dato Seri Setia Haji Awang Yahya bin Begawan Mudim Dato PadukaAwang Haji Bakar returned from a five-day working visit to The Kingdom of Thailand, from March 21 to 26.
The minister was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Rajah Suriyah binti Haji Umar, Director of Agriculture and MIPR senior officers, according to an MIPR press release.
The minister and entourage visited Charaeon Pokphand food (CP), one of the biggest food corporations in Thailand. CP also operates in Bangladesh, Malaysia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Singapore, China, Turkey, India, Indonesia and Vietnam. CP chicken processing plants have been certified Halal by the Islamic Committee Office of Thailand.
Other places they visited were Thanya Toong Ruang Chai Rice Mill, Marketing Organisation for Farmers, Royal Chitralada Project, Community Rice Center, Supatra Land and the Nongnooch Garden and Resort in Pattaya.
The group visited and held discussions with Brusiam Food Alliance Company Limited, a joint venture company between Brunei Darussalam and Thailand dealing with the supply of rice to Brunei Darussalam.
Brunei Darussalam requested Brusiam to assist in post-harvest handling of rice when local production increases. The highlight of the visit was the bilateral meeting with the Thai Minister of Agriculture and Commerce, Mr Theera Wongsamut. Both ministers focussed on the issue of food security.
Thailand, one of the biggest producers of rice in the world, has agreed to continue its supply of rice to Brunei Darussalam. Brunei has just signed a renewal contract for a three-year-and-eight-month supply of rice from Thailand.
Thailand has also agreed to assist Brunei in production, field management and post-harvest handling. This cooperation is very important in ensuring food security both through supply and production especially to support Brunei Darussalam’s rice production effort to reach the target of 20 per cent by 2010 and 60 per cent by the year 2015, the MIPR said.
On future economic cooperation both parties agreed to explore further on how both countries could develop a niche, high-quality Halal export industry, as this would combine Thailand’s high quality food products with Brunei’s stringent Halal certification standard.
Through the success of Thailand in the development of agriculture and agrifood Industry, Brunei Darussalam also looks forward to cooperating in the training of staff and farmers both in Thailand and Brunei Darussalam.
— Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin