17/4/07 (People Daily Online)  -  Malaysia is supplying oil palm seedlings to Pakistan to establish a 40,000-hectare oil palm plantation in the province of Sindh, local press reported Tuesday.

Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui said he is going to Karachi, southern Pakistan, to meet the provincial government in Sindh on the government-to-government initiative.

"So far, this plantation in Sindh is still at trial stage. About 5,000 hectare have been planted with seeds provided by the Malaysian Government," Chin told the New Straits Times Monday in a telephone interview.

This initiative will help build better trade relations among Islamic nations, said Chin. Pakistan is Malaysia's third biggest buyer of palm oil products.

Currently, Pakistan buys about 950,000 tons of palm oil from Malaysia annually. The bulk of it is refined, bleached and deodorized (RBD) palm olein, according to the English daily.

Chin will be leading a 50-member delegation to Karachi from April 18 to April 21 to participate in the Malaysia-Pakistan Palm Oil Trade Seminar (POTS) there.

Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) figures show that in the first quarter of this year, China, the Netherlands and Pakistan are still the top three buyers of Malaysian palm oil products.

Source: Xinhua