KOTA KINABALU (Sept 17): The Price Stabilisation Committee (JPH) meeting in Sabah, Sarawak, and Labuan held here on Tuesday agreed to the implementation of an integrated maize grain development initiative in Sabah and Sarawak.

Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said this is to reduce the dependence on imported sources of livestock feed, which has been a contributing factor to high production costs and supply prices in the market.

He said the meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, also decided that the Sabah and Sarawak governments should be involved collaboratively and holistically in the initiative.

“The involvement (of the Sabah and Sarawak governments) will be through the National Grain Corn Industry Committee (NGCIC) which will be chaired by the Agriculture and Food Security Minister (Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu)," he said in a statement here on Tuesday.

He said the meeting took note of the initiatives and proposals put forward by the Sabah and Sarawak governments, and requested that they be used as a reference in the Price Stabilisation Study for Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, as well as to be considered by the relevant ministries and federal agencies.

He said the meeting also took note of the preliminary findings of the Price Stabilisation Study in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan, which began in May and is expected to be completed by November, before being presented at the JPH meeting in December.

“The results and findings of the study will be the basis for consideration in improving existing initiatives as well as proposing new initiatives in the future related to price stabilisation in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan," he added.

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