The joint venture is between Malaysia’s Koperasi Pelaburan Pembangunan Hartanah Perak Berhad (KPPH) — or Perak Property Development Investment Cooperative — and China’s Fubao Group.
The National Cooperative Movement of Malaysia (Angkasa) president Datuk Abdul Fattah Abdullah said the Malaysian Fisheries Development Authority (LKIM) offered KPPH a 101.17ha site in Bukit Malut, Langkawi for the large-scale shrimp farming project.
He said the facility would be capable of producing about 300 tonnes of White Shrimp a year, and generate a revenue of about RM1.5b (about US$386.1m) each year, after three years of implementation.
A boon to the industry
"KPPH will be the anchor co-op and will invite other co-ops, especially those in Langkawi, to join hands in making this shrimp farming project a success," Abdul Fattah told reporters.
He said the project is expected to create more than 1,000 jobs, as well as intensify and further the research and breeding of the South American White Shrimp species in the country.
The project is expected to properly commence before the end of this year.
Version 2.0 of aquaculture project
According to Saiful Bahri Samsudin, chairman of KPPH, the joint venture is the second of the cooperative after a similar project in Temoh, in Malaysia’s Perak state, since 2016. However the first project was on a much smaller scale.
Professor Xu Wujie, researcher of the South China Sea Institute of Fisheries Research Institute of China for Fisheries Science, said that the demand for the species of South American white prawns is growing greatly in China.
He said that while the demand for the shrimp is about 180 million tonnes a year, currently, China is only able to produce about 100 million tonnes per year. This is partly due to the four-season weather conditions in China that are not conducive for shrimp farming. Production is particularly affected by winter.
"The weather in Malaysia is very special (for breeding shrimp) and markets in China are always there. For this reason, we have to work together," said Prof Xu.