JOHARI with Mohamad Helmy (second left) presenting the scientist of hope award to Dr Tan Pei Yee after officiating the MPOB Excellence Awards 2024. Also present were Ahmad Parveez (left) and Yusran Shah (right). PHOTO Hazreen Mohamad.
BANGI: Malaysia's exports of palm oil and palm-based products increased by RM12.5 billion to RM99.3 billion as of November this year, said Plantations and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani.
Johari said that for the period from January to November, India remained the largest market for Malaysian palm oil with 2.9 million tonnes (18.5 percent), followed by China (1.3 million tonnes), the European Union (EU) (1.2 million tonnes), Kenya (1.1 million tonnes), Turkey (832,000 tonnes), the Philippines (611,000 tonnes) and Japan (553,000 tonnes).
He said these seven markets collectively accounted for 54.4 percent of Malaysia's total palm oil exports for the first 11 months of this year.
"So for (throughout) 2024, I expect (these exports will be) more than what happened in 2023.
"Because this commodity is very important to the country, of course we have to make sure that the propaganda being played by other oil producers, which compete with palm oil, we can defend it professionally, with facts and (with the results of) our research," he said at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) Excellence Awards 2024, here, today.
Also present were the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Plantations and Commodities, Datuk Yusran Shah Mohd Yusof (right), MPOB Chairman, Datuk Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha and MPOB Director-General, Datuk Dr Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir.
Johari said he wanted MPOB to emphasize three important aspects including the sustainability of the country's palm oil industry.
"The sustainability of our palm oil crops includes applications and matters involving the secular economy. Any space we have can be utilized to generate a new economy.
"Second, regarding our 'nutritional value', what are the benefits of palm oil... we need to do research and collaborate with any institution to present this research so that we can fight propaganda against palm oil," he said.
According to him, the third aspect is regarding the results of research related to the benefits of palm oil.
"We need to focus our research on all of this as a 'defence mechanism' to ensure that any country out there that is making a false claim about palm oil is not actually true.
"Our palm oil is the third contributor in terms of export value in the country after the electrical and electronics (E&E) sector and oil and gas," he said.
Touching on the country's rubber industry, Johari said that Malaysia and Thailand will increase cooperation to ensure sustainability in this industry, especially to fulfill its export commitments abroad.
"I was present at a bilateral meeting between the Prime Minister (Thailand) and a minister from Thailand.
"One of the commodities we cooperate in is rubber production. We used to be number one in the world, now Thailand is a rubber exporter and we buy a lot of rubber from them.
"So we have cooperation, I informed their Minister of Agriculture that Malaysia wants to focus on sustainable rubber exports.
"So he agreed, they are also focusing on this matter," he said.
Johari said that Malaysia's total rubber imports from Thailand for a year were US$950 (RM4.4 billion), while the country's total exports were only US$105 million (RM467 million).
"We import a lot of rubber products but we export them back abroad.
"Therefore, both countries must have sustainability (rubber products and industries). If they are sustainable, then Malaysia and Thailand will benefit.
"In addition, Malaysia will focus on how to rehabilitate these 420,000 hectares (of land) that are abandoned and we are discussing with the Rubber Industry Smallholder Development Authority (Risda) and other agencies to ensure that we can overcome this matter," he said.
