Reverse Linkage

46 REVERSE LINKAGE andMalaysia (along with IsDB) in rice production. Suriname is a South American country that is around 18,500km from Malaysia. Nevertheless, both countries have a similar tropi- cal climate, with dry and rainy seasons, although at different times of the year. Suriname’s economy relies heavily on exports of minerals such as gold, bauxite and oil, which account for approximately 85 per cent of exports and 27 per cent of government revenues. However, current account balances have deteriorated sharply in the recent past due to the persistent weak- ness of commodity prices, gold and bauxite in particular. Suriname’s GDP has shrunk from an estimated US$9,216 billion in 2014 to an estimated US$8,547 billion in 2016. Because of vulnerability to mineral price volatility, the Suriname Government has decided to consider other, more sustainable industries as engines of growth. One area identi- fied was the agricultural industry, particularly the rice sector due to its being the main agricultural export. When the Suriname Government approached IsDB to seek assistance to improve rice production through the RL platform, IsDB did not hesitate to suggest, through MARDI Corporation, Malaysia as the provider country. MARDI Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Malaysian Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI), and is a leader in agro-technology, with an inter- national reputation for research and development (R&D) supporting agricultural and bio-based industries. The institute has more than 35 years of expertise in rice produc- tion and, through MARDI Corporation, has established partnerships outside Malaysia resulting in extensive inter- national experience of implementing agricultural projects in many countries. By identifying important capacity gaps in Suriname’s rice production and value chain, and match- ing them with available technologies and expertise from Malaysia, MARDI Corporation, together with Suriname’s Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV), has created a programme to help improve Suriname’s rice industry. The three-year programme will be looking into the main components of rice production – rice variety, soil and water. An important and outstanding aspect of this RL project is From left; Minister of LVV Suriname, H.E. Soeresh Algoe; Chairman of MCSB, Dato’ Dr. Hj. Mohd. Shafei Abdullah; Minister of Finance Suriname and Suriname’s IsDB Governor, H.E. Gillmore A. Hoefdraad; and IsDB’s Senior Capacity Development Specialist, Aminuddin Mat Ariff; at the signing of the Reverse Linkage project between Suriname and Malaysia for rice production MARDI Corporation officer and Surinamese rice mill operators, Nieuw Nickerie, Suriname Image: MCSB Image: MCSB