TANGKAK, July 6 — The plight of durian farmers facing falling prices following a near-simultaneous peak harvest season across Peninsular Malaysia has drawn the attention of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who has pledged to raise the matter with Chinese Premier Li Qiang during his visit to China next month.
Anwar said the move is aimed at expanding market access for Malaysian durians in China to boost demand and help stabilise prices, which have affected growers' incomes.
"All right, I promise one thing. Li Qiang, the Premier of China, is a good friend. I will be going to China next month, and I want to bring up durian because I see prices are falling.
"China has very high standards, very high. But I will try to negotiate," he said during a meet-the-people session in the Gambir state constituency here last night.
Also present were Pakatan Harapan (Harapan) Johor election director Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari, Deputy Natural Resources and Environmental Sustainability Minister and Ledang MP Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh, and Harapan candidate for the Gambir state seat, Mohd Nor Mohd Yusof.
Anwar said Malaysia's strong ties with China should be leveraged to create more trade opportunities that would ultimately benefit local producers and farmers, particularly during periods of oversupply.
In a separate development, the prime minister said Malaysia continues to offer among the world's lowest fuel prices through government intervention, despite global oil price pressures stemming from geopolitical uncertainty in West Asia.
The finance minister said the conflict involving Iran and the United States had put upward pressure on oil prices due to supply disruptions, but the government had chosen to shield the public from higher fuel costs.
"There is no country in the world where fuel prices have gone down like Malaysia. Malaysia is the only country with the lowest fuel prices in the world. It is not easy to reduce fuel prices. We (the Cabinet) discuss it because I cannot bear it (if fuel prices go up).
"If you follow economic or policy principles, fuel prices must go up due to supply disruptions. But what about the people? That is why I do not agree with price increases, and we reduce them," he said.
Retail fuel prices from July 1 to 8 are set at RM3.37 per litre for RON95 and RM3.97 per litre for diesel. However, eligible Malaysians continue to enjoy subsidised rates of RM1.99 per litre for RON95 and RM2.10 per litre for diesel under the BUDI Madani initiative.
