PETALING JAYA (April 2): Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd has inked a memorandum of collaboration (MoC) with the Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia (DVS) to implement sustainable dairy farming practices.
Dutch Lady managing director Tarang Gupta said the strategic partnership involves the participation of local dairy farmers in its Dairy Development Programme (DDP) and Farmer2Farmer (F2F) Programme.
These initiatives involve Dutch dairy farmers transferring their skills and knowledge to local dairy farmers to improve the quality and quantity of local raw milk.
“Under the DDP in Malaysia, we have seen an improvement in the quality of milk produced by local dairy farmers by 400% since the last 10 years, with the production of fresh milk from 2010 to 2020 amounting to 36.5 million litres.
“In 2020, we produced 40% more fresh milk versus 2019, and with this strategic partnership, we hope to further increase the milk yield and also the quality of fresh milk,” he said during a press conference after the MoC signing ceremony here today.
The exchange of MoC documents between Tarang and DVS director-general Datuk Dr Norlizan Mohd Noor was witnessed by Agriculture and Food Industries Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ronald Kiandee together with deputy head of mission of the Netherlands Embassy to Malaysia Eva Oskam.
According to Tarang, Dutch Lady will be bringing a total investment of RM400 million into Malaysia in the next few years, which includes the development of a new manufacturing facility in Bandar Enstek, Negeri Sembilan, bringing a great opportunity to local dairy entrepreneurs.
“Our new factory will significantly have more capacity to process local fresh milk with the addition of a new state-of-the-art dairy farming centre that will provide training facilities to local farmers, including best practices in the farming industry.
“We are still in the early stage of planning for the new facility, and we expect to hold a ground-breaking ceremony sometime in the middle of the year,” he added.
Meanwhile, Kiandee said the significant collaboration is a milestone as Malaysia is aiming for a 100% self-sufficient level (SSL) in local fresh milk production by 2025.
“We are now at 62% of the SSL, and the ministry via DVS is going all out to expand and improve milk production in the country with regard to this collaboration,” he said.
