The Star Online – Sep 07 8:59 PM
WITH close to RM146mil (US$40mil) worth of bird nests produced yearly in Malaysia, it is no surprise that it has attracted many to venture into this business.
In line with the growing interest, the first South-East Asia Swiftlet Farming Confe-rence is in the offing.
The conference, to be held from Oct 11 to Oct 14 at Sunway Hotel in Seberang Prai, will have a panel of ex-perts, including producers from Thailand and Indonesia as well as scientists and government officials, sharing ideas on the swiftlet industry.
Among others, the experts will present papers on ‘An overview of swiftlet farming in South-East Asia’, ‘Government policy of swiftlet farming in South-East Asia with special reference to Malaysia’ and ‘Value add and marketing of swiftlet’.
Themed ‘Challenges for a Sustainable Swiftlet Farming’, the conference is organised by the MCA Traditional Agricul-ture and Agro-based Industry Bureau.
MCA Traditional Agriculture & Agro Based Industry Bureau chairman Datuk Dr Lee Chong Meng said the conference would be a good networking avenue to get feedback on the current problems affecting swiftlet farmers.
“Indonesia is currently the top producer of bird’s nest and we (Malaysia) rank third or fourth. There is still a lot of room for improvement.
“The bird’s nest market is big. It has high returns with minimal costs. This will be the place for bird’s nest entrepreneurs, consultants, traders and the public to come together,” he told a press conference in Butterworth.
Dr Lee said many were keen to invest in the industry but were baffled with the various by-laws adopted by the local authorities.
“We are planning to arrange a dialogue with the various ministries to thrash out problems faced by swiftlet farmers.
“We also plan to submit a memorandum on the issue by the end of this year,” he said.
The conference will also include a trip to Haadyai, Thailand, to visit swiftlet farms. Those interested can contact the Bukit Bintang MCA branch at 03-4045 2422.
