From left: East Coast Economic Region Development Council's Project Implementation Division general manager Arizan Arifin; Mersing land administrator and the official representative of Mersing District Office Abdul Hakim Abd Manap; Johor State Unity, Heritage and Culture Committee chairman Raven Kumar Krishnasamy; Johor Agriculture, Agro-based Industry and Rural Development Committee chairman Datuk Zahari Sarip; Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi; Jcorp president and CEO Datuk Syed Mohamed Syed Ibrahim; Rhone Ma Holdings Bhd group managing director Dr Lim Ban Keong; and JDV CEO Qasem Alhasan.

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 25): Jemaluang Dairy Valley (JDV) dairy farm, a strategic collaboration between the Johor government and the East Coast Economic Region Development Council, has secured RM95.8 million in financing from MBSB Bank Bhd to grow its production capacity to 14 million litres of milk annually by 2027.

The capital will fund the high-tech equipment, including the acquisition of additional A2 Jersey Friesian grade cattle from Australia and a processing facility which can produce 14 million litres of milk annually.

MBSB, in a statement on Wednesday, said that the initiative tackles Malaysia’s reliance on imported dairy and aims to build a high-output, tech-driven local dairy industry, supporting national food resilience. JDV is expected to provide about 16% of the country’s fresh milk once fully operational.

The milk processing plant, part of JDV’s integrated dairy system, will start in early 2027 with a 14-million-litre capacity, expandable to 30 million litres. It will produce fresh pasteurised milk and flavoured variants like strawberry, chocolate and kurma.

The dairy farm is owned by Jemaluang Dairy Valley Sdn Bhd (JDVSB), a joint venture between Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd, a subsidiary of Johor Corporation (JCorp), and A2 Fresh Holdings Sdn Bhd. Kulim maintains a 65% controlling stake — including a 30% interest held in trust for the Johor state government — while A2 Fresh Holdings, a unit of Rhone Ma Holdings Bhd (KL:RHONEMA), holds the remaining 35%.

During the first phase, the area would be open to school students by mid-2027 under an agro-tourism concept supported by various interesting activities including an all-terrain vehicle (ATV), camping and a mini zoo. The second phase will be opened to the public in 2028.

MBSB group CEO Rafe Haneef said food security is a key priority requiring large investment, as shown by their RM1 billion Agro-ESG mandate. The RM95.8 million facility will support Johor’s first fully integrated, tech-enabled, ESG-compliant dairy ecosystem to boost Malaysia’s self-sufficiency.

JDVSB CEO Qasem Alhasan said the company is designed as an end-to-end dairy ecosystem — combining world-class farming technology, sustainable practices and local talent development — to deliver high-quality, locally produced milk at scale while supporting Malaysia’s long-term food security goals.