Thursday, November 5, 2009

S’wak Bird’s Nests Suppliers Association to be launched

SIBU: The Sarawak Bird’s Nests Suppliers Association (SBNSA) will be officially launched on Nov 15 at RH Hotel at 9.30am.Its pro tem deputy chairman Jesse Tang said SBNSA recently received an approval letter from the Registrar of Societies (ROS) confirming its official registration. “As such we invite all swiftlet farmhouse investors throughout the state to join the association,” he said at a press conference yesterday. Tang said SBNSA currently had over 1,000 members from Kuching to Miri.“There are at least 1,000 swiftlet farmhouse operators out there who have yet to join the association. We sincerely call on them to join the association and to get all the benefits which the members enjoy,” he said.

Members can attend courses and workshops at a minimal fee on bird’s nest processing and other techniques like ranching as well as ways to improve their farmhouses. “We provide all the updates on techniques and processing skills to our members to help them equip themselves on swiftlet farming,” he said.

Tang said not all swiftlet farmers are fully aware of swiftlet ranching techniques and that was why over 70 per cent of those who ventured into the business failed. “Operating a swiftlet farms is equivalent to operating a bank. Obviously, there will be no customers if you set up your bank in the middle of the jungle and likewise, if you operate the farmhouses in the jungle, the birds will not come either,” he said.

Tang reminded investors against rushing into the business without confirming the viability of their projects, which is the key for all investments. “It’s not the approval from the respective authorities that counts but it’s the investment location that holds the key to the success in the bird’s nests business,” he said.

According to Tang, Sarawak currently produces about three tonnes of bird’s nests per month.
“Sarikei ranks top, followed by Mukah, Bintulu, Kuching, Sibu and so forth,” he said.
Nationwide, he said the country exported about RM1 million worth of bird’s nests per annum, making it one of the country’s largest export earners. As such, Tang said the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) is concerned about farmhouse operators and the production of high quality bird’s nests.

“We may not be able to overtake Indonesia, which is the world’s biggest supplier of bird’s nests, but we can build ourselves to become one of the major suppliers of high quality bird’s nests in the world,” he added.

From www.theborneopost.com

4 comments:

  1. Hope this one become reality and play very active role for the swiftlet ranching in Sarawak

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  2. I am from Johor, Can we join the association? Since our Government and China has come up with mutual understanding, what is the price for a unprocess Grade A Bird Nest per KG NOW? Any idea! We can keep them for few months under control temperature, but after that. Please advice on the price and if there are buyers interested please reply. Thank you.

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