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Agrobank Disburses Loan For Swiftlets' Bird Nest Industry
Luxury Food market in Malaysia
- Industry news
- Financial Times
- May 27, 2010
BERNAMA, The Malaysian National News Agency KUALA LUMPUR, May 26 (Bernama) -- Agrobank has set up a RM67.7 million loan fund to finance swiftlets' bird nest-related industry whose export value is worth more than RM1 billion a year.
Managing Director Datuk Ahmad Said said the fund, launched on May 19, will enable 2,000 swiftlet enthusiasts to build low-cost swiftlets' farm homes costing between RM10,000 and RM30,000 each.
The loans will be disbursed at 3.75 per cent interest per annum, he said.
There was no special allocation made for the industry previously, he said.
The newly-created fund will help swiftlet farmers to venture into the lucrative industry, he told a media conference on the loan scheme for the swiftlet industry.
Ahmad said the fund was set up in line with the government's initiatives under the New Economic Model to increase the people's income from US$7,000 to US$15,000 a year.
Swiftlets' bird nest industry is among the high-impact industries being given emphasis by the Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Ministry besides breeding freshwater arowana fish and growing seaweeds.
Agrobank, entrusted to develop the nation's agriculture industry, issued RM6.3 million in loans to 41 swiftlet farmers in the last two years, he added.
The swiftlet bird nest industry, which started with the migration of the bird species from Indonesia about 10 years ago, is booming at a rapid pace, with some 50,000 farm homes operating nationwide.
While unprocessed swiftlets' bird nests cost between RM3,000 and RM4,000 a kilogramme, processed ones can fetch up to RM12,000 a kilogramme.
The main markets are China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Copyright 2010 Bernama.
Good Swiftlet farming all!