PUTRAJAYA: The Primary Industries Ministry is in the midst of exploring new markets for palm oil via good connections with several nations as Malaysia is striving to tackle anti-palm campaign issues.
Its minister Teresa Kok said countries such as the Philippines, Iran and Turkey as well as the West African Continent were among potential new markets on top of maintaining the existing main markets for Malaysia’s palm oil.
“The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) has been tasked to form ties with these countries in efforts to boost export of Malaysian palm oil,” she said after attending a consultation session on the ministry’s 2019 budget.
Also present was the ministry’s secretary-general Datuk Zurinah Pawanteh.
The palm oil industry was reported to have faced widespread criticism for its links to deforestation, and is often accused of annual haze outbreaks in the region due to open burning being used as a cheap way to clear land.
And, the European parliament said in a non-binding resolution in April that it would only allow imports of environmentally sustainable palm oil into the European Union after 2020.
On the ministry’s targets for the 2019 budget, Kok said six agencies under the ministry were still at the discussion level, but she expected the ministry’s budget for next year to be more practical.
She said the consultation session was also aimed to restore the government’s finance, generate sustainable development and improve the people’s welfare while putting together the budget.
“The focus involves, among others, improving the cost of living and expedite economic growth. It also includes fiscal and institutional transformations as well as encouraging the use of technology and new innovation,” Kok added.