KUALA LUMPUR: The palm oil industry’s sustainable initiatives and management are vital in ensuring palm oil remains one of the main pillars of Malaysia’s domestic economy, as well as a globally accepted food source.
The Malaysia Pavilion has placed special emphasis on the country’s sustainable agricommodities at Expo 2020 Dubai to be achieved via two trade and business week programmes focused on the sector, as well as its permanent exhibit hall on “Sustainable Agricommodities”.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), in a statement today, said the food-based Sustainable Agricommodities Week, led by the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities will be held at the Malaysia Pavilion from Feb 6 to 12, 2022.
“The MPOC, as the promotional body for palm oil, will showcase the Malaysian palm oil industry’s sustainable initiatives and management. The programme will also include a focus on pepper and cocoa crops and products.
“The initiatives include a mandatory certification scheme, regulatory guidelines, good agricultural practices and the development of cutting-edge technology by the upstream, midstream and downstream sectors of the industry,” it said.
The MPOC said the sector has contributed significantly to providing a continuous inflow of earnings through the export of raw commodity and valued-added products, and the sustainable concept would further provide a strong platform for Malaysia in the global market for palm oil exports.
In 2020, palm oil exports earned US$17.39 billion (RM73 billion) for Malaysia, a 7% increase from 2019, which accounted for 26% of the world’s palm oil production and 34% of all exports.
MPOC CEO Wan Aishah Wan Hamid commented that being the second largest producer of palm oil in the world, this is an important sector for Malaysia.
“Expo 2020 is not only the perfect platform to create awareness of the benefits and various uses of palm oil, but also the importance of implementing sustainable initiatives. Our programme is designed to reach not only the business sector but also general consumers and the young,” she said.
She said the MPOC will conduct public awareness activities at the Malaysia Pavilion on the benefits and applications of palm oil and its products.
On the pocket talks, the MPOC said that the topics will cover price and market outlook reports, the role of palm-based bioactive compounds in health, trade expansion through logistics investments, and the use of palm-based ingredients in food formulations.
The Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council will also deliver a pocket talk focused on the palm oil certification scheme implemented in Malaysia, it said.
The Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai has scheduled a 26-week thematic trade and business programme, and the non-food based Sustainable Agricommodities Week will be held from Jan 23 to 29, 2022. – Bernama
