Indonesia a thorn in the side for Malaysia’s durian national fruit bid

The durian, the king of fruits, is synonymous with Malaysia, right?

While every Malaysian will agree, the Indonesians are saying no.

They insist that they have a stronger claim to the durian, creating a thorny issue in Malaysia’s bid to make it the country’s national fruit.

On Monday, Coordinating Minister for Food Affairs Zulkifli Hasan, known as Zulhas, disagreed with Malaysia’s proposal, citing Indonesia’s larger production as justification.

“Indonesia produced almost 2 million tonnes of durian in 2024. That is far above Malaysia. With this fact, I believe durian is Indonesia’s national fruit,” he said, as reported by CNBC Indonesia.

Zulhas highlighted data from BPS showing Indonesia’s durian output reached 1.96 million tonnes last year – the highest in five years – with major production hubs across Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan and Sulawesi.