Kuala Lumpur and Jakarta in pro-palm oil battle (yeah, right!)
By STEPHEN THEN
MIRI: Malaysia and Indonesia have agreed on a comprehensive action plan to counter anti-palm oil activists in Europe and North America who are getting increasingly aggressive and deceitful.
Both countries agreed to jointly tackle the growing anti-palm oil campaigns in the Western world.
The agreement was reached following a meeting between Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui and Indonesian Agriculture Minister Dr Anton Apriyantono as well as senior officials from their respective ministries in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Dr Anton was in Malaysia for the second joint Malaysia-Indonesia meeting on bilateral cooperation on commodities.
“These anti-palm oil campaigns affect both Malaysia and Indonesia because we are the main producers in the world market,” Chin told The Star in a tele-interview here after his meeting with Dr Anton.
“These campaigns are spreading very fast. Those behind such campaigns are resorting to lies and distorting issues.
“They are no more just saying that palm oil is harmful to health. They are telling the Western world that Malaysia and Indonesia are ravaging the forests and committing genocide against animals, particularly the orang utans because of our oil palm projects.
“These activists are harping on issues that are sensitive to the Western population, They want to stir up emotions so that consumers there would boycott our palm oil and the downstream products.
“Their campaigns are getting widespread, affecting restaurants, supermarkets, food outlets and households throughout Europe and North America.
“We (his ministry and the Indonesian Agriculture Ministry) will be carrying out a series of campaigns of our own in cities in Europe and North America to show the people there that we do not destroy our forests or kill animals in our development of oil palm projects.
“We will show them proof that we carry out our projects in an eco-friendly manner,” he said.
Chin said his ministry and Dr Anton’s ministry would conduct seminars, talks and roadshows in Britain and the European continent, and meet Western business groups and government bodies to show them the true picture.
On a related matter, Chin clarified a report in The Star yesterday that the RM70bil in income was the ministry’s expected revenue from exporting all types of commodities and not just from palm oil.
“Palm oil export will bring in about RM30bil out of the RM70bil. Palm oil export last year was about RM26bil, so the increase expected for this year will be about RM4bil,” he added.
Source: http://thestar.com.my
