MIRI: The Sarawak FAMA Fest 2023 (SAFF 2023) programme highlights the food and agricultural products of Sarawakian entrepreneurs.
Food products made by local entrepreneurs are highlighted and promoted to the local community, particularly here and the neighbouring nation of Brunei Darussalam, through the programme under the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) via the Federal Agricultural Marketing Authority (FAMA).
At SAFF 2023, which took place at the Bintang Mega Mall here over the course of four days from Feb 23 to 26, a total of 40 entrepreneurs, including both local and peninsular traders, made sales.
SAFF 2023, which is operational from 10 am to 10 pm, serves as a meeting point for entrepreneurs, farmers, and government organisations to offer a range of goods and services at costs that consumers can afford.
MAFS Deputy Minister Chan Foong Hin, in a statement, noted that SAFF 2023 marks the second edition of the FAMA programme, which was initially held in 2019.
“FAMA is also targeting a total of 20,000 visitors with a sales value of RM500,000 through the organisation of SAFF 2023 this time,” he said.
Remarkably, the Sales Direct from the Farm or “Jualan Terus Dari Ladang” (JTDL) programme was also held during the organising of SAFF 2023, which is a government initiative to help reduce the cost of living for the people.
The implementation of JTDL is also seen as FAMA’s “quick win” programme in helping farmers market their products directly to consumers.
For the record, the total sales value of JTDL from (Jan-Dec) 2022 has recorded RM16.29 million with the involvement of 7,586 entrepreneurs in 1,031 locations nationwide with RM1.6 million worth of savings.
Meanwhile, there are various interesting activities waiting for visitors to SAFF 2023, including business matching, cooking demonstrations, bermukun (entertainment activities of the Sarawak Malay community), cooking competitions and others.
FAMA is targeting a potential export value of RM3 million through business matching sessions.
As such, FAMA brought marketing agents from Brunei, Thailand, Hong Kong and China to help expand the market for Malaysian agro-food products, especially the output of Sarawak entrepreneurs to the global market.
It aims to encourage entrepreneurs to explore a wider and profitable global market through marketing agents who have market outlets or key accounts in their respective destinations.
The programme was also attended by Deputy Minister of Food Industry, Commodities & Regional Development (Food Industry) Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Ismail as well as senior officials of MAFS departments and agencies.
