Durian emerges as new hope for Malaysia’s exports

By VNA August 26, 2024 | 06:46 pm PT

This picture taken on July 8, 2020 shows durians displayed for sale in Kuala Lumpur. Photo by AFP

Malaysia’s durian exports are expected to rise to RM1.8 billion (US$412 million) by 2030, according to its Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (KPKM).

As reported by Malaysia’s national news agency Bernama in an August 25 statement, the KPKM stated that Malaysia's durian export performance over the five-year period from 2018 to 2022 was encouraging, with the value growing by 822.8 million RM or 256.3%.

In 2022, the country’s exports of the tropical fruit reeled in RM1.14 billion, the highest ever recorded.

China is the primary export market for Malaysian durians, with a record export value of RM887 million in 2022, the KPKM said. It also noted that the nation’s first fresh durian shipment to China, carried out on August 24, had arrived at Zhengzhou Cargo Airport.

The export of fresh durians to China became possible after the Protocol on Phytosanitary Requirements for the Export of Fresh Durian from Malaysia to China was signed by Malaysian Agriculture and Food Security Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu and Chinese Minister of the General Administration of Customs China Yu Jianhua in Putrajaya on June 19.