This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 7, 2018

PUTRAJAYA: The government will study the monopoly policy of the previous administration and decide if it should be abolished, expanded or have its reach limited, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

“There is a monopoly on the import of rice into Malaysia but there are other monopolies including procurement,” said the prime minister.

“So we have to look into the operation of monopolies to see whether we should abolish it or reduce it [if] it is good for the country,” he said after chairing the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Meanwhile, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Salahuddin Ayub said the monopoly to import rice by Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) will be suspended as per the cabinet decision.

Bernama quoted the minister as saying that a working paper on breaking up the monopoly with feedback from the ministry and other stakeholders would be drafted before being submitted to the government for further action.

“In the effort to protect the interests of local padi farmers, we have identified the modules used by other countries (on importing the staple), among them Indonesia which has been successful in its approach in opening up monopoly on rice,” he told a press conference.