Dewan Rakyat - Palm oil producers should not be competing among themselvesas it would lead to a drop in its price, says Primary Industries MinisterDatuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.He said the producers should be competing with other types of oilproducers, such as sunflower seed oil and rapeseed oil.Dr Lim was replying to Senator Datuk Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman who askedwhether it was a paradox for the Government to encourage Malaysianplantation companies to invest in oil palm plantations in Indonesia.Citing the example of rubber tree plantation, he said Malaysia did nothave a pact with Indonesia and Thailand, which also produced rubber, untilthe price of the commodity had dropped."This had affected small estate owners as they became high costsproducers."The strategy of encouraging palm oil producers to invest abroad is tomaintain the price of the commodity."Dr Lim also told Senator Zakaria Arshad that the subsidy given to smallestate holders under the Felda and Felcra schemes was not given to othersmall estate holders.Tuesday, August 14, 2001The Star