PM Lee Hsien Loong and PM Najib Razak jointly open Agrobazaar outlet

SINGAPORE - Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak spoke of the close ties between the two countries on Wednesday as they jointly officiated at the opening of the Agrobazaar Malaysia outlet at Sultan Gate.

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In his speech, PM Najib said: "I can think of few better places than Singapore, which attracts so many international visitors, and which we share a common culinary heritage with. We may occasionally differ on terminology, but Singaporeans and Malaysians taste with one tongue."

Mr Razak also added that the project "is also a testament to the strong and enduring relationship between Malaysia and Singapore."

Prime Minister also remarked on the close ties between the two countries in his speech.

He likened the friendship between Singapore and Malaysia "to a flowering fruit tree" which had to be continually nurtured.

Sometimes, we enjoy the low hanging fruit, or even wait for the durians to fall. But sometimes we have to work harder to climb the tree and pluck the coconuts from the top," he said.

The agrobazaar was an idea PM Najib mooted when tabling the 2014 Budget, and Singapore will host the first Malaysian agrobazaar overseas.

The initiative is driven by the Agriculture and Agro-based Ministry's marketing agency, Fama. 

According to Malaysian media reports, Singapore is Malaysia's biggest export market for fruits and fruit products, with annual exports worth RM300mil (S$119mil), contributed mostly by watermelons and the durian.

Fama director-general Datuk Ahmad Ishak said apart from selling local fruits, the 464 sq m shoplot has a restaurant that sells pisang goreng, cempedak goreng and serves Kopie Satu, a gourmet coffee developed by Fama. 

candicec@sph.com.sg