DPMM, MTEM urge gov't to break rice monopoly

CORONAVIRUS | The government has been urged to break monopolies, such as in the food and agriculture industry, when announcing its additional economic stimulus to face the Covid-19 crisis.

The Malay Chambers of Commerce Malaysia (DPMM) and Malay Economic Action Council (MTEM) said this includes monopolies on seeds, rice imports, and fertilisers.

The two groups said this will improve the country's food security, adding that a structural change would increase agricultural productivity to support internal production and imports which benefit the country.

"In fact, if a company needs to be nationalised, this is the time to do it for the good of the people," DPMM president Abd Halim Husin and MTEM CEO Ahmad Yazid Othman said in a joint statement...