Gov't intensifies marketing of palm oil

KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities is intensifying efforts to promote and expand domestic and foreign markets by participating in exhibitions, trade expos and technical missions to promote and increase public awareness of the quality of Malaysian palm oil products.
Its deputy minister, Datuk Datu Nasrun Datu Mansur, said the ministry would also access markets in importing countries by participating in discussions in bilateral free trade agreements as well as multilateral or regional negotiations.
"Research and development activities will be intensified to increase usage of palm oil and upstream production for the export market so that the oil palm sector remains competitive in the international oil market," he said in reply to a question from Dr Azman Ismail (PKR-Kuala Kedah), during the question-and-answer session at the Dewan Rakyat today.
He noted that the country's oil palm industry players are also encouraged to venture and expand their business into niche markets with higher market values.
"The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) scheme will be made mandatory in December 2019 and it is a move to create a sustainable system which is acceptable globally and will brand Malaysian palm oil as the primary choice of consumers," he said.
The MSPO is key to the Malaysian oil palm industry becoming an environment-friendly industry aimed at entering the hardcore markets in Europe. — Bernama