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Price of raw unclean bird's nest may increase

Bird’s nest export prices are expected to quintuple after Malaysia inked a deal with China to ship raw edible nests to the People’s Republic.

Malaysia’s deal with China, said Malaysia’s Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, could bring about RM1.5 billion (US$340,456,560) in profits to the local bird’s nest industry, but this could also mean the price for the product for local consumption may increase.

The deal, called Protocol of Inspection, Quarantine and Veterinary Hygiene Requirements for the Exportation of Raw, Uncleaned, Edible Bird’s Nest, is everything the name suggests.

The protocol sets standards for Malaysia’s 10,000 bird’s nest farmers to sell their raw product to the ministry, which will then export it untouched to China, where it will be processed and cleaned in Qinzhou and then sold to the Chinese market.

Malaysia has a RM22 million (US$4,993,363) joint quarantine, processing and testing plant with China in the Qinzhou Industrial Park.

China banned imports of bird’s nests from Malaysia in 2011 after finding nitrate in some of the nests.

“Everything will go through us and we will make sure this will be certified under standards we agreed on with China,” Ahmad Shabery said in the Parliament lobby yesterday.

He said when China imposed the ban, the price of Malaysia’s bird’s nest dropped from RM8,000 (US$1,815.80) per nest to less than RM1,000 (US$227.20) and this put constraints on local farmers.

“This deal gives a good message with the possibility of boosting our price to RM3,000 (US$680.80) or maybe even RM5,000 (US$1,134.60),” he said.

There are about 20,000 registered bird’s nest farms in the country and each requires an investment of up to RM300,000 (US$68,091.30) from the farmers.

A hike in the price for their product would ensure the survivability of the industry, Ahmad Shabery said.

During a question-and-answer session in Parliament with Datuk Dr Shamsul Anuar Nasarah (Umno-Lenggong), Ahmad Shabery also discouraged farmers from trying to process bird’s nest themselves, as the results could be disastrous in terms of quality control.

“Now we have a platform to do everything legally that fulfils quality standards, so what happened three-years ago won’t happen again,” he said.

Malaysia produces about 300 metric tonnes of bird’s nest annually.

Swiftlet houses in Sibu

These picture was taken when I stayed at RH Hotel, Sibu. I can see more than 10 swiftlet premises. The birds entrance is from the roof top to maintain the original look of the building.

Protocol on export of Raw Uncleaned to China Signed

Malaysia and China have signed 14 Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) related to the defence, economy, agriculture, education, finance and the construction sectors.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak and his Chinese counterpart Li Keqiang witnessed the signing ceremonies after jointly chairing a bilateral meeting between Malaysia and China at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday.

The New Straits Times quoted Najib as saying the 14 business arrangements sealed between two countries were worth RM143.64 billion.

"What we achieved today is historic,” he told a press conference with Malaysian media in Beijing yesterday.

The bilateral meeting was also attended by the Prime Minister's Special Envoy to China Ong Ka Ting, Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, Defence Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Transport Minister Liow Tiong Lai and Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Mah Siew Kiong.

Also present were International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Abdul Rahman Dahlan, Agriculture and Agro-based Industries Minister Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek, and Education Minister Mahadzir Khalid.

The Malaysian delegation also included Sarawak Local Government Minister Sim Kui Hian, Johor Menteri Besar Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Razif Abdul Rahman, Malacca Chief Minister Idris Haron and senior government officials.

Hishammuddin inked an MOU with his counterpart General Chang Wanquan on the renewal of Bilateral Defence Cooperation, while Ahmad Shabery signed an MOU on Agriculture Cooperation with his counterpart, Zhi Suhping.

Ahmad Shabery also inked a Protocol between the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of the People’s Republic of China and Malaysia's Agriculture Mnistry on Inspection, Quarantine and Veterinary Hygiene Requirements for Export Raw-unclean Edible Birdnest with Zhi.

Among the agreements signed were the renewal of the MOU on Education Cooperation with China between Education Minister Mahdzir Khalid and China's Education Minister Chen Baosheng.

Finance Ministry secretary-general Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah also signed the binding Financial Framework Agreement between Malaysia Rail Link Sdn Bhd (MRLSB) with The Export-Import Bank of China (EXIM) with EXIM vice-president Yuan Xinyong.

Najib earlier received a courtesy call from National People's Congress (NPC) chairperson Zhang Dejiang at the Great Hall of the People before being welcomed by Li at a special welcoming ceremony on the grounds of the area.

The Jalur Gemilang (Malaysian national flag) and China's national flag were flying proudly in the chilly evening, and the national anthems of both countries, Negaraku and 'March of the Volunteers' filled the air the moment Najib and Li reached the dais to receive a salute from the guard-of-honour mounted by the Chinese People's Liberation Army as well as a 19-gun salute.

•  malaysiachina

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Export of Raw Uncleaned EBN to China

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 17 (Bernama) -- Mutual respect and trust are the key factors ensuring the China-Malaysia relationship stays strong and continues to prosper.

China's Ambassador to Malaysia Dr Huang Huikang also described the relationship as akin to a Chinese proverb that translates to, "Friendship is like wine, the older the better."

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's recent working visit to China was not only a huge success in strengthening bilateral ties, but also helping Malaysia's development into the future.

"I don't understand why there are claims that Najib's visit was to 'sell off' Malaysia to China, with no support for the efforts taken to boost trade and investment between both countries," he told reporters here today.

He said Najib's visit to China would not only benefit big industries, but also smallholders in the agricultural sector.

"Another initiative is to enhance the export of palm oil and bird nests to China," he added.

During the visit, Najib proposed to his counterpart Li Keqiang, that China increase the purchase of palm oil, considering that there are 500,000 smallholders in Malaysia.

He also raised the issue of raw unclean edible bird's nest exports to China, while giving an assurance that the facility to export the product would be settled as soon as possible, as it involved 10,000 swiftlet farmers in Malaysia.

Malaysia is reportedly the world's second largest producer of bird's nests, and would be exporting raw unclean bird's nest to China, besides the processed product.

The bird's nest market in China stands at US$1.8 billion per annum.

Huang said prior to the discussion, the Chinese government had given a positive response towards considering the proposals and would take necessary action to increase imports of palm oil and bird's nests from Malaysia.

On concerns of stiff competition from Malaysia's small and medium enterprises amid rising investments and participation from China, he said there was nothing to worry, because the spin-off effects were fair and equal.

"There is nothing to worry. Chinese companies also have corporate social responsibility policies and are not benefit-oriented," he added.

He explained that to invest in Malaysia, the Chinese companies need local partners with job opportunities to be created, alongside, technology transfer.

"Such collaboration will complement one another, as there will be technology transfer, exchange of expertise, as well as possibly localising production to support the industry," Huang said.

During his visit to China earlier this month, Najib managed to secure for Malaysia, investments worth RM144 billion with 14 trade agreements covering the economy, defence, agriculture, education, finance and construction sealed.

-- BERNAMA

3rd Edible-bird's Nest Industry Seminar 2016

PUTRAJAYA: Export of edible bird’s nest increased by 80% from 145.1 tonnes in 2014 to 262.8 tonnes in 2015, said Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Shabery Cheek. 

He said Malaysia hoped the number would continue to increase yearly, along the growth of local processing plants to producing export-quality edible bird’s nest. 

“Edible bird’s nest is the most higly priced agricultural product in South-East Asia. It is estimated that there are more than 20,000 swiftlet ranching premises in operations throughout the country. 

“The Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) has registered more than 10,000 swiftlet premises, and it expects to be able to register at least 90 per cent of the swiftlet premises by 2020,” Ahmad Shabery said in his opening speech at the 3rd Edible Bird’s Nest Industry Conference 2016 in Putrajaya on Tuesday. 

He also also announced that DVS is introducing a programme, Edible Bird’s Nest as an Alternative to Shark’s Fin. 

The programme had received good response from a number of four- and five-star hotels which are willing to work together with the ministry to raise the awareness, he said. 

The two-day conference beginning Tuesday was attended by 120 industry players mostly from Malaysia and China. 

Themed “Empowering the Essence of Edible Bird’s Nest”, the conference serves as a platform to discuss the current developments of Malaysia’s bird’s nest industry; global issues and challenges; share experiences, as well as, research products; improve creativity and innovation of downstream products and promotion and marketing opportunities. - Bernama

Empowering the Essence of Edible-birdnest

More than 20,000 bird's nest premises will be registered by 2020 in Malaysia said YB Dato' Sri Ahmad Shabery Cheek, Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, Malaysia. Bird's nest will replace shark's Fin in the food for future with the motto ' Empowering the Essence of Edible-birdnest'

EDIBLE-NEST SWIFTLET (EBN) RANCHING AND ITS RELATED INDUSTRY: Malaysia expected to export 130 tonnes of edible bird’s nest

EDIBLE-NEST SWIFTLET (EBN) RANCHING AND ITS RELATED INDUSTRY: Malaysia expected to export 130 tonnes of edible bird’s nest

Malaysia expected to export 130 tonnes of edible bird’s nest

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia produces some 350 metric tonnes of edible bird’s nest annually and around 130 tonnes are expected to be exported by the end of this year, said Department of Veterinary Services (DVS) deputy director-general (Veterinary Health) Datuk Dr Quaza Nizamuddin Hassan Nizam.

“The edible bird’s nest industry is growing and last year itself, the country has exported 105 tonnes of edible bird’s nest to various countries.

“We’re exporting some 12 metric tonnes in the form of raw, clean to China. We have a programme in progress where we’re trying to export raw, unclean to China.

“Only about 25% of edible bird’s nest production is going for further process value adding whereas about 50% goes under raw, unclean and 25% raw, clean. We’re trying to increase the 25% to 50% to make it value adding for more income and to penetrate more markets,” he told a press conference after the Swiftlet Eco Park Group 12th anniversary dinner.

Dr Quaza added that the Middle East, US and Europe differed from the Chinese market so industry players have to look at different ways of selling their products rather than just looking at raw, clean and raw unclean edible bird’s nests. The value of edible bird’s nest now is around RM7,000 per kg.

Dr Quaza stressed that all swiftlet farming premises were registered in the DVS system and a full traceability system is in place to ensure the bird’s nests from Malaysia are of good quality and can be traced to the bird house it came from.

“For example, when we export the bird’s nest to other countries, it has a special sticker with a pin number and a code which can be scanned and traced to its source.

“We want to ensure the importance of food safety from the farm to the table,” Dr Quaza said. Deputy Agricultural and Agro-Based Industries Minister Anthony Nogeh Gumbek, who was also present, said the bird’s nest industry is recognised as one of the high value industries and the Government has placed it under one of the entry point projects of the Economic Transformation Programme.

“We want to produce bird’s nests which are acceptable by any standard in any country and we want to value add it.

“We don’t just sell raw clean or raw unclean bird nest, you process it to downstream products where you can get more return from it,” he said, adding that Government has spent almost RM8mil for research funding to assist the industry to expand the product range.

More agriculture products to enter china without barrriers

NANNING, China: More Malaysian agricultural products will enter China without barriers starting November with the signing of an agreement between the two countries, Second International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan said.

He said in the next two months the Malaysian government and a Chinese Agriculture authority would sign the Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements for the export of pineapple into China.

This marks an important milestone between the Malaysia-China Kuantan Industrial Park, as well as the China-Malaysia Qinzhou Industrial Park, he told reporters after the official opening of the Malaysian Pavilion at the 13th China-Asean Expo (Caexpo) here yesterday.

It was reported that the two industrial parks were a collaboration between Malaysia and China, as well as between the cities of Kuantan and Qinzhou under the Two Countries, Twin Parks Initiative.

The Pahang government has approved an  additional  1,000 acres of land to expand the industrial park in Kuantan to 2400 acres.

With the new ventures, the total investments attracted to stand at US$3.77 billion.

Ong said currently, Malaysia’s exports of fruits to China accounted for only six per cent of RM540 million.

“The export of fruits to China is still small, so there is definitely a lot of opportunities for Malaysian companies to tap into China which has a vast population of 1.3 billion.

“By signing this agreement, we want to make Qinzhou our trading hub,” he said, adding that currently, eight Malaysian fruits were already exported to China, including papaya, rambutan, mangosteen, young coconut and watermelon.

Malaysia, which is the world’s second largest producer of bird nests, will also be exporting raw, unclean bird nests to China besides processed bird nests.

The bird nest market in China stood at US$1.8 billion per year. — Bernama

Good ventilation system for swiftlet ranching

Here are some of the good design of swiftlet house, ventilation system and type of nesting plank commonly use. These are selected from the google picture.

Bird's Nest production affected by El Nino

KUCHING: While the Chinese community ponders over who to vote for in the last state elections, some are distracted by a “baffling exodus” taking place in Miri and Bintulu.

The producers of one of Sarawak’s most prized exports – bird’s nest – are blaming it on El Nino and the haze.

For the past few months, they said, the number of swift birds, whose saliva-spun nests are a great delicacy among the Chinese, have dropped noticeably in their usual nesting grounds.

“Many birds have flown away and not returned for a few months now. Maybe it is hard for them to find food. Production of bird’s nests has dropped by about 20% because of El Nino,” said Loh Siaw Kuei, president of the Sarawak Bird’s Nest Merchants Association.

Demand is back on the rise since 2014 after China lifted a 2011 ban due to nitrate levels in the delicacy.

The price for processed bird’s nest plunged from RM7,000 to RM3, 500 a kilogramme during the freeze, but has now exceeded RM8,000 and demand is growing, said Loh, also vice-president of the Federation of Malaysia Bird’s Nest Industry Merchants Associations Malaysia.

Loh said the strong recovery in prices and demand was a windfall for local industry players because they had difficulty in servicing bank loans during the ban. The loan they utilized to contruct bird house.

“Although the price is higher, the demand from China is still very good. Sarawak bird’s nests are bigger and considered to be of high quality and some had achieved HACCP (Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point)-certified. That’s why the Chinese love bird’s nests from here,” he said.

Importers from China are also sourcing from Malaysia because of a drop in production in Indonesia, the world’s largest supplier, due to the haze.

According to Loh, Malaysia exported 11 tonnes to China last year.

There are 19 processing plants in the country approved to export cleaned bird’s nests to China with two in Kuching and one in Mukah, in the central region.

– BERNAMA

Sarawak bird nest output down on drought, fewer feeding grounds

Monday, 1 August 2016

Sarawak bird nest output down on drought, fewer feeding grounds

BY JACK WONG

 

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KUCHING: Bird nest production in Sarawak, one of the biggest producers in the country, had been affected by the drought earlier this year.

Breeders estimated production may have dropped between 10% and 20% in Sarikei and Sibu region. Sarawak produces about 8,000 kg of bird nests a month.

“The hot weather as well as fewer feeding grounds, especially in town areas, have adversely affected swiftlet’s nesting,” breeder Wong Hie Yong said.

He said the nesting periods for the birds were reduced to just twice a year, down from three times in a year previously in town area probably due to overcrowded and less insects.  Damaged natural habitats was also cited as a major factor, contributing to the decline in production.

Sarawak also produces high-quality bird nests from the many caves Baram, Miri, and Serian . It was estimated that there were 4,000 to 5,000 swiftlet houses in Sarawak.

Tasked by the state government to spearhead the orderly development of the swiftlet industry, the State Economic Development Corp (SEDC) has set up its first swiftlet eco park in Daro, Mukah Division.

The park has 10 units of double-storey buildings initially.