Mumbai – The largest palm oil producing countries, namely Indonesia and Malaysia, are working with India to fight the black campaign targeting this commodity.
The three countries promised to jointly promote the positive benefits of palm oil to the world community at the 2nd Sustainability Vegetable Oils Conference (2nd SVOC) . This event was held at the ITC Maratha Hotel, Mumbai, India, last Wednesday, September 27 2023.
Secretary General of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commodities of Malaysia, Datuk Haji Mad Zaidi Mohd Karli, stated that Malaysia has formed a special body to promote Malaysian palm oil called the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), especially in the aspects of safety, efficiency and promoting the benefits of palm oil.
“We even included the promotion of palm oil in the Upin-Ipin cartoon from Malaysia, there is an episode that discusses its positive benefits,” said Mad Zaidi Mohd Karli.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Trade Jerry Sambuaga stated that many Western countries are still carrying out black campaigns regarding palm oil.
“This is something we have to erase, eliminate. “We also need to convey to the whole world that if Western countries want to carry out black campaigns, we will not tolerate it,” said Jerry.
Jerry said that the Indonesian government, as the largest palm oil producer, was ready to provide factual data to the public, which was in contrast to the smear campaigns carried out by a number of Western countries.
Shatadru Chattopadhayay, Managing Director of Solidaridad Asia as a partner organization of the Government of India, said that Malaysia and India have also agreed to collaborate together under Solidaridad to promote trade and the benefits of sustainable palm oil since 2019.
However, he admitted that he was still waiting for further efforts from Malaysia and Indonesia to promote the benefits of palm oil for consumers.
The reason is that there are many misunderstandings regarding palm oil that have developed in Indian society, which is one of the main markets for the two palm oil producing countries.
According to Shatadru, the size of the Indian market needs to be taken into consideration by Malaysia and Indonesia to exploit it on a large scale so that palm oil can become the main choice of the Indian people.
Given the size of the Indian market, which is larger than the entire European market, Shatadru said, more intensive involvement in the Indian market is needed to encourage the role of small farmers, promoting their health benefits. “And it also makes the price of palm oil more affordable and vegetable oil can finally become a choice for people in India,” he said.
Source : Tempo.co