05/12/2014 (Bernama) - The Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities, YB Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas will be leading a Timber and Palm Oil Promotion Mission to The Netherlands and Belgium from 8 to 10 December 2014. The delegation comprise of representatives from the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities (MPIC), Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysian Timber Industry Board, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Malaysian Timber Council, and the Malaysian Timber Certification Council, and the private sector.

The objectives of this mission are to:

• strengthen bilateral trade in palm oil and timber based products; and
• discuss on possible areas of collaboration between the private sectors of Malaysia, and The Netherlands and Belgium. 

During the visit to The Netherlands, the Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities will convene a Roundtable Discussion with The Netherlands Timber Trade Association. This meeting is aimed at exploring measures to further strengthen exports of timber based products to The Netherlands.  In addition, the Minister will also attend the first meeting of the Malaysia-The Netherlands Joint Working Group on Timber and Commodities.  This meeting which will be Co-chaired by HE Sharon Dijksma, State Secretary for Economic Affairs, is aimed at among others, to discuss measures to promote and facilitate trade in commodity products between the two countries.

YB Minister MPIC will also visit Brussels, Belgium from 8-10 December 2014. The itinerary of the visit to Brussels includes:

• discussion of with members of the  European Palm Oil Alliance (EPOA) on issues affecting palm oil exports to the European Union. EPOA comprises of industry members involved in palm oil trade and these include Sime Darby and IOI Loders Croklan;
• officiate the European Palm Oil Conference (EPOC) 2014,  with the theme Nutrition and Sustainability Challenges. EPOC will be addressing a number of issues and this includes nutritional benefits of palm oil and its sustainable production. This conference is expected to be attended by about 100 participants, with the majority of participants from Europe;
• discussion with European Members of Parliament on issues affecting exports of palm oil products to Europe;
• Bilateral Meeting with HE Kris Peters, Deputy Prime Minister and Belgian Foreign Trade Minister, regarding among others, the concern by Malaysia on the labeling of ‘No Palm Oil’ by food product manufacturers in Belgium; and
• Roundtable Discussion with Belgian Timber Trade Association. This meeting is aimed at discussing with the private sector in Belgium on issues of concern relating to exports of timber and timber products.

The Netherlands is a major export destination for commodity products. Palm oil and palm based products exported from Malaysia in 2014 was valued at RM6.017 billion  and this accounts for 9.5% of total global exports of palm oil and palm based products. Other commodity products exported to The Netherlands in 2013 include rubber and rubber based products valued at RM320 million, timber and timber based products valued at RM301.5 million, cocoa products valued at RM58 million and pepper products valued at RM4.4 million.

In the case of Belgium, total commodity products exported in 2013 was valued at RM723 million. Among the commodity products, the major export products were rubber and rubber products valued at RM387.6 million, palm oil products valued at RM160.3 million, and timber and timber based products valued at RM175.1 million.
 
The European Union (EU) which comprises of 28 countries is a major export destination for commodity products in 2013. Among the commodity products, the EU is the second largest export destination for palm and palm oil based products, with a total export value of RM9.25 billion and this accounts for 15.1% of total global export of palm and palm oil based products. Other commodity products exported to the EU in 2013 include rubber and rubber based products valued at RM5.54 billion, timber and timber products valued at RM1.81 billion, cocoa and cocoa products valued at RM381.4 million and pepper products valued at RM 15.3 million.