09/08/05 KUALA LUMPUR,(Bernama) -- Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri NajibTun Razak is confident that the plantation commodities will continue tospearhead the development of the agriculture sector in Malaysia in futureand to provide an important source of revenue to the country.

"I believe the successes to be achieved by the plantation sector will helpthe government fulfil its vision to make the agriculture sector one of themain driving forces of the country's economy," Najib said.

Last year, he said the plantation commodities, particularly oil palm andrubber had helped the agriculture sector to achieve a growth of 5.3percent which contributed 8.3 percent to the country's gross domesticproduct (GDP).

In fact, the total revenue generated from the export of the commoditysector was close to RM63 billion, making it a significant foreign exchangeearner for the national economy, he added.

Malaysia was the benchmark for other palm oil and rubber producingcountries in the world, Najib said when officiating the Commodity Week2005 and Conference on Biotechnology of Plantation Commodities, hereTuesday.

"As a main producer and exporter of plantation commodities such as palmoil, rubber and timber products, we have the technological advantage overour competitors in production and processing," he said.

Najib said through extensive research & development (R&D) efforts Malaysiahad become the centre of good plantation practices, processing anddownstream technologies.

Najib, however, said better strategies would have to be in place toincrease productivity and high value added products to maintain Malaysia'scompetitive edge.

Malaysia will continue to be among the major producers of plantationcommodities for many years to come, he said.

"I believe innovation in agricultural biotechnology will be the key factorin raising competitiveness in the new economic order where there will bereduced restriction on trade and much more competition among producingcountries," he said.

Najib noted that in the United States alone the revenue generated annuallyfrom the sales of agricultural biotechnology products was estimated to beover US$2 billion.

In order for Malaysia to harness the vast potential, it is imperative tohave greater collaboration between researchers and industry players indeveloping marketable biotechnology products.

-- BERNAMA