17/09/2008 (Borneo Post Online), London - The World Sustainable Palm Oil Conference staged here on Sept 15, provided a window of opportunity for both Malaysia and Indonesia to clear misconceptions on the development of the palm oil industry, said the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Datuk Peter Chin.

“The conference was indeed timely as over the past few years, the palm oil industry has been confronted over issues concerning the environment, in particular deforestation, loss of biodiversity and the threat to wildlife.

“These have been complemented lately with concerns on carbon emission from the development of peatland.

“All these have projected a wrong image of the industry to consumers around the world,” he said at a joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Dr Anton Apriyantono after a dialogue session with participants of the conference.

The conference was jointly hosted by the Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (Asli), the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC).