KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia welcomes Swiss investments in its palm oil industry’s downstream activities to create outputs for the benefit of mankind and planet earth.
Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok said this cannot be achieved if Switzerland were to exclude palm oil from their own national consumption patterns, through punitive actions sanctioned by its Parliament.
“We thus appeal for support from Switzerland to speak up against the current 28 European Union (EU) member states’ efforts to phase out sustainable palm oil use as a source of biofuels while allowing other oils and fats to continue.
“It has been established that biofuels irrespective of their source, when sustainably produced, will better protect the environment compared to fossil fuels,” she said at the Malaysian Palm Oil Roundtable Dialogue in Berne, Switzerland, today.
The text of her speech was made available to Bernama.
Thus, Kok hope that the Swiss authorities would apply its advanced technologies in partnership with Malaysian palm oil industry players to better achieve the United Nations’ sustainability goals through active collaborative partnership.
“Swiss precision and engineering technology are legendary and well recognised. If collectively applied to the many challenges we face in the palm oil industry, we could be in a unique partnership that benefits global communities,” she added.
Malaysia is doing its part with renewed commitment to sustainability and environmental protection, he said, adding that, ”I humbly request Switzerland and other European countries to support the efforts undertaken by palm oil producing countries like Malaysia on its good agricultural practices and sustainability efforts.”
She said palm oil contributed US$19.2 billion of export revenue or about 4.8 per cent of the Malaysia’s gross domestic product.
“Palm oil is an important source of income for the myriad of smallholders in the interior area of Malaysia.
“Any proposed ban on palm oil imports by the EU will not only hurt the economy of Malaysia, but also will further hurt the income of the poor and downtrodden in my country,” she said.
– BERNAMA