24/11/2009 (Xinhua News Agency), Jakarta - The palm oil industry in Indonesia contributed 4.5 percent to the national Gross Domestic Product ( GDP), supporting the life of 13.2 million people of more than 230 million population in the country, a senior Indonesian official said on Tuesday.

"The palm oil industry is very important in Indonesia as 3.3 million families, or 13.2 million people, are depending on the industry," Amin Tamin, the Technology and Research State Ministry Deputy said in a seminar on the country's palm oil industry held in Bogor, West Java.

Amin said that the export of crude palm oil (CPO) has contributed 3.5 million U.S. dollars to the government's revenue, making the industry a key factor to spur the country's economic growth.

The deputy pointed out the need to undertake research and improve the technology in the production of crude palm oil in the country.

More advanced technology needs to be applied in the industry so that the industry can make more contributions to the country's economic growth and benefit the people depending on this industry, Amin said.

According to the data issued by the Crude Palm Oil Producers Association (GAPKI), the country's CPO export in the first ten months this year stood at 12.76 million tons, or 16 percent higher compared to the same period last year.

The association said that India has been Indonesia's largest CPO export destination country, followed by European countries and China.