by AUFA MARDHIAH / pic source: bioa.com.my

THE Gaolin Village in Hainan, China, will be named the Malaysian Agricultural Hub following a partnership agreement between Bioalpha Holdings Bhd and the Gaolin Village Council.

The strategically located village is easily accessible from Haikou, Hainan’s capital city, and central city of Ding’an Country via various expressways and main trafficway.

The development of the hub encompasses the construction of 30 units of factories with an initial paid-up capital of RM6.6 million and an authorised capital of RM33 million.

Early stage of the hub will focus on the upstream and downstream activities including the formulation, manufacturing and commercialisation of Malaysian indigenous and tropical herbs, namely Misai Kucing and Kacip Fatimah, which target the local Chinese market.

Besides that, it is also aimed at enabling other Malaysian agricultural players such as manufacturers of durian and cocoa products to venture into China by investing and stationing in Hainan.

Bioalpha MD William Hon said the Malaysian Agricultural Hub is a unique model which focuses on the complete integration supply chain for Malaysian agricultural products.

“With the hub, we can conduct research and development (R&D) activities, formulate and manufacture our herbal-based products, as well as eventually commercialise said products under one roof for the Chinese market.

“The endeavour would provide the local Chinese population with immediate access to our products, as well as allow the group’s a better gauge of the domestic demand to roll out related products in the shortest time possible. 

“For future phases, we may even cultivate our indigenous herbs as this could reduce logistics costs of importing raw materials from overseas,” he said in a statement today.

Hon was also positive that the R&D facility may expand the group’s capacity to cater the increasing orders in respect of the health food supply contract, aside from sourcing the region’s agricultural produce to enhance the group’s range of offerings moving forward, which also allows it to meet sales targets.

Bioalpha’s supply contract was previously used to provide health and nutritious food for the private and public sectors in Guizhou, China. 

To achieve local and internal accreditation, the group adopted the best practices in operations, namely Good Manufacturing Practices and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points.

“As the anchor company of the hub, we will also serve as the link to companies in Malaysia that wish to market their products in China and assist in providing services such as R&D, manufacturing and commercialisation. 

“This opens up the lucrative Chinese market for Malaysian companies seeking to expand to China,” Hon added.

The establishment of the hub in Hainan guarantees Bioalpha’s tax incentives and exemption under China’s Overall Plan for the Construction of Hainan Free Trade Port, as well as 30 years of land lease with extension option from the date of signing.