Palm oil exports may exceed RM70b this year........
KUALA LUMPUR: The palm oil industry is expected to be the engine of growth for the country in the face of the current global economic slowdown.
Plantation, Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said the outlook of the industry was positive as the price of the commodity remained at around RM3,000 per tonne despite the gloomy global economy.
“Malaysia's palm oil exports may exceed RM70bil this year and it is the second biggest export after electrical and electronics. This is much bigger compared with petroleum if we exclude the export of gas,” he said after the launch of Palm Oil International Congress 2011.
Dompok expected the industry to continue growing, with the current output of 18 million tonnes surpassing earlier target of about 17 million tonnes. “The industry will continue to play a bigger role in the time ahead,” he said.
He also said the Government would continue to increase the productivity of the commodity, especially among the smallholders who constitute 40% of total planters, to increase the yield to six tonnes by 2020.
Meanwhile, in his opening speech, Dompok said the palm oil industry provided direct employment to about 610,000 people, including some 300,000 smallholders.
He said the development of the industry had been given a new focus with the implementation of the Government's Economic Transformation Programme.
“This industry has been identified as one of the core economic drivers under the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) to transform the country into a high-income economy by 2020.
“The palm oil NKEA focuses on improving the upstream and downstream sectors,” he said, adding that the implementation of eight Entry Point Projects would further enhance palm oil contribution to the national economy by increasing the gross national income to RM178bil by 2020.
About 2,000 delegates, including industry leaders, policymakers and experts, from over 40 countries would meet at the three-day congress. The biggest oil palm-related event in the world is organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board to provide a strategic platform for interaction and in-depth deliberation on the many facets of the industry.
