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SANDAKAN: A Cabinet Committee will be established to strengthen the use and purchase of locally made products while enhancing coordination among ministries and government agencies, Domestic Trade and Cost of Living Minister Datuk Armizan Mohd Ali said.

He said the committee, whose establishment was approved by the Cabinet, would streamline the direction, policies and strategies to drive the promotion and sales of local products in both the domestic and export markets, while reducing the country’s dependence on imports.

“The Cabinet Committee will be chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, while the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (KPDN) will serve as the secretariat,” he told a press conference after officiating the Jom Malaysia Festival, here, Saturday.

Armizan said KPDN welcomed the Cabinet’s decision on July 15 to establish the committee and that the Ministry would immediately fine-tune its terms of reference, including scheduling its meetings.

“We are also finalising the agencies to be represented on the committee, including the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, the Ministry of Plantation and Commodities, as well as other ministries that are stakeholders in the production of local products, in addition to the Ministry of Economy, which serves as the central agency in determining the country’s economic direction and policies,” he said.

He said KPDN was confident that the establishment of the Cabinet Committee would strengthen the Jom Malaysia initiative, which is anchored on four transformation pillars: a national movement, a whole-of-nation approach, product inclusivity and market expansion.

On the Jom Malaysia Festival, Armizan said the three-day programme, which concludes today (Saturday), is a strategic collaboration between the federal and state governments to advance the agenda and achieve the objective of boosting the promotion, use and purchase of locally made products.

The festival brings together more than 100 local entrepreneurs, industry players and strategic partners on a single Jom Malaysia platform, featuring sales activities, business networking opportunities and informative government exhibitions, he said.