The three-day Palm & Lauric Oils Conference and Exhibition (POC), Price Outlook 2016/17, took place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from March 7-9. This marked the 27th anniversary of the annual event, co-organised by Bursa Malaysia Derivatives Bhd and the CME Group this year.
On March 8, the Hon. Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, read the keynote address on behalf of Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. Dato’ Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, and declared open the event. An edited version of the keynote address follows.
“The oil palm industry has been synonymous with Malaysia’s economic development, including opening up employment opportunities in the agriculture sector. Currently, it provides direct employment to more than 1 million people, including 600,000 smallholders.
The Government recognises the importance of the palm oil sector and has taken measures to enhance its performance – from upstream to downstream sub-sectors – in order to generate higher income for the country.
In 2015, Malaysia produced 19.96 million tonnes of crude palm oil from a planted area of 5.64 million ha. Exports of palm-based products stood at 26.2 million tonnes, bringing in RM63.2 billion. The palm oil sector contributed 8.1% of Malaysia’s merchandise exports.
The domestic palm oil sector subscribes to voluntary industry-led certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. Currently, 25.3% of the planted area is certified as meeting its standard.
In addition, the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil Certification Scheme was implemented with effect from 2015. It is based on compliance with domestic laws and regulations, including the development and management of oil palm cultivation that subscribes to the best environmental and agricultural practices.
Malaysia’s Target : Resilience was last modified: September 30th, 2016 by GOFB
