12/02/2009 (Bernama), New Delhi - India's Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath has assured that the country will import more palm oil from Malaysia, which is now a leading exporter to the sub-continent economy.

"He (Nath) agreed to buy more palm oil from Malaysia. That was a good point of our meeting with the minister," Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Senator A. Kohilan Pillay told Bernama.

"I am optimistic we can achieve the one million metric tonne export target to India this year," he said.

Last year, India was Malaysia's fifth largest export destination for palm oil, after China, the European Union, Pakistan and the United States.

Malaysia's exports of the commodity to India, the second largest economy in Asia, had steadily risen from 500,000 metric tonnes in 2007 to 900,000 metric tonnes last year.

Malaysia's export of palm oil and palm oil products to India was valued at RM2.89 billion in 2008.

"The global economic crisis will not impact India's import of palm oil because ours is high quality oil and there is strong demand for downstream activities. I am confident we can sell more," Kohilan said.

He is currently leading a Malaysian ministerial delegation to Bangladesh and India to interact with industry players in the rekee jute, jetropah and palm oil markets. He also paid a courtesy call on Nath at his office.

India imports over three million metric tonnes of palm oil as well as large quantities of other vegetable oils, largely from East Asian countries to meet its domestic demand.