Malaysia is set to achieve more than RM7bil in cocoa export value this year, says Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng. The Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister said in 2021, the export value of cocoa and cocoa-based products contributed RM6.87bil to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is an increase of 9.5% compared to RM6.27bil in 2020. “Until July this year, the export value for cocoa and cocoa-based products has reached RM4.4bil, which is an increase of more than 11% compared to the export value in the same period in 2021.
“Therefore, I am very optimistic that we can reach more than RM7bil in total this year in line with the target set in the National Agricommodity Policy 2021-2023,” he added. The Tanjung Piai MP said this after officiating the Malaysia cocoa trade hub at Forest City Golf Hotel here on Monday (Sept 26). He added that Malaysia was currently the second largest cocoa bean processing country in Asia and the sixth in the world, contributing as much as 6.8% of the world's total cocoa grinding capacity.