16-03-2005 - Malaysia, the world's biggest producer of palm oil, wants topartner with US firms to produce and market biodiesel for the automotiveindustry, Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin was quoted as saying onMarch 15.

"We are able to produce it now but we need to tie in with people here inthe US willing to import it," Chin was quoted by Bernama as saying inWashington.

He said Malaysia wanted help to produce and market a blend of palm oil andpetroleum in the United States.

Chin held talks with senior US officials at the Food and DrugAdministration and Department of Agriculture on Monday.

Malaysia has been experimenting with cars that run on palm oil-baseddiesel for several years but officials said they still lacked technicalknow-how to take the product to the market.

The government hopes to launch by June a biodiesel policy, identifyingalternative energy sources that could offset a rising fuel bill. - Reuters