MARKET DEVELOPMENT
Vice Minister of Trade Bayu Krishnamurti Lambasts at NGOs
Vice Minister of Trade Bayu Krishnamurti Lambasts at NGOs
13/11/2013 (Jakarta Post) - Vice Minister of Trade Bayu Krishnamurti on Tuesday lambasted at environmental NGOs and other civil society organizations for what he considered their ridiculous accusations which often linked oil palm expansion in Indonesia with deforestation and destruction of wildlife, biodiversity and orang utans.
Indonesia put great value on the palm oil industry because it has been contributing to poverty alleviation and to robust economic development in many provinces, Krishnamurti said.
“There are many cities in the provinces which have been growing rapidly due largely to the development of palm oil, and we are grateful to become the world’s largest producer now because we have vast areas most suitable for oil palm estates,” he pointed out at the opening of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 11th annual conference in Medan, North Sumatra.
It also should be acknowledged that palm oil is the most productive among all vegetable oils, even more than nine times more productive than soybean, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil, he said.
“It is therefore to our best interests that we implement best practices for suatinable palm oil. It is for the sake of our future, not because others told us, to do it,” Krishnamurti told more than 600 delegates from 30 countries attending the three-day conference.
In fact, he added, Indonesia also is now the largest producer of RSPO certified sustainable palm oil, and will also become an increasingly major consumer of this commodity as the government has committed to doubling the use of palm oil based biofuel to 6.5 million tons next year.
“Of course we are not perfect yet and I should admit we still make mistakes. But you should also recognize the progress we have made in sustainable development practices,” he told the gathering which was also attended by delegates from almost all major international NGOs.
Indonesia at present has about nine million hectares of oil palm plantations with an annual production of almost 27 million tons, and earning US$20 billion in export earnings.
He urged the multi-stakeholder RSPO forum to improve cooperation and understanding with Indonesia, especially the government, in developing sustainable palm oil and bridging the interests of the consumers and producers.
The government, Krishnamurti said, has committed to eventually allowing only sustainable palm oil for exports from Indonesia.
RSPO Secretary General Darrel Webber expressed optimism that the international market uptake of certified sustainable palm oil will increase from about 5 million tons now to nine million tons in 2015, notably in Europe and the United States.
Indonesia put great value on the palm oil industry because it has been contributing to poverty alleviation and to robust economic development in many provinces, Krishnamurti said.
“There are many cities in the provinces which have been growing rapidly due largely to the development of palm oil, and we are grateful to become the world’s largest producer now because we have vast areas most suitable for oil palm estates,” he pointed out at the opening of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) 11th annual conference in Medan, North Sumatra.
It also should be acknowledged that palm oil is the most productive among all vegetable oils, even more than nine times more productive than soybean, rapeseed oil, sunflower oil and peanut oil, he said.
“It is therefore to our best interests that we implement best practices for suatinable palm oil. It is for the sake of our future, not because others told us, to do it,” Krishnamurti told more than 600 delegates from 30 countries attending the three-day conference.
In fact, he added, Indonesia also is now the largest producer of RSPO certified sustainable palm oil, and will also become an increasingly major consumer of this commodity as the government has committed to doubling the use of palm oil based biofuel to 6.5 million tons next year.
“Of course we are not perfect yet and I should admit we still make mistakes. But you should also recognize the progress we have made in sustainable development practices,” he told the gathering which was also attended by delegates from almost all major international NGOs.
Indonesia at present has about nine million hectares of oil palm plantations with an annual production of almost 27 million tons, and earning US$20 billion in export earnings.
He urged the multi-stakeholder RSPO forum to improve cooperation and understanding with Indonesia, especially the government, in developing sustainable palm oil and bridging the interests of the consumers and producers.
The government, Krishnamurti said, has committed to eventually allowing only sustainable palm oil for exports from Indonesia.
RSPO Secretary General Darrel Webber expressed optimism that the international market uptake of certified sustainable palm oil will increase from about 5 million tons now to nine million tons in 2015, notably in Europe and the United States.