KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 10 (Bernama) — The first ever consignment of 170 Nili Ravi buffaloes from Pakistan have arrived in Malaysia.
The buffaloes will be used to establish a pilot breeding project in the country.
The buffaloes were formally handed over to the Minister for Agriculture and Agro Based Industries, Datuk Seri Noh Omar by the High Commissioner for Pakistan in Malaysia, Masood Khalid here Friday.
The Nili Ravi buffalo is known globally for its yield of high quality milk of rich fat content,said the High Commission in a statement.
At the handing over ceremony, organised by the Department of Veterinary Services, Noh Omar said Malaysia was deficient in milk production and therefore had to import most of the fresh milk to cater to the domestic market.
He said the launch of the Nilli Ravi breeding facility will enable the country to establish and develop its own dairy industry to not only meet domestic needs for fresh milk, but also develop parallel facilities for the production of milk-based products such as Mozzarella cheese and fresh butter.
The pilot breeding project is being undertaken with the active technical support of the Buffalo Research Institute(BRI) of the Government of Punjab, Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Masood said the buffalo breeding project, coupled with the approval of an abattoir in Pakistan for the export of frozen deglanded and deboned beef to Malaysia had opened up a new window of opportunity for long term mutually beneficial cooperation between the livestock sectors of both countries.
He also said that Pakistan and Malaysia were ideally positioned to capture the global multi-trillion dollar Halal market.
Pakistan and Malaysia had signed two Memoranda of Understanding(MoUs) and one Letter of Intent (LOI), to promote cooperation in the livestock sector and Halal business, during Noh Omar’s visit to the country last December.