October 8 2003 - THE palm oil fraternity has suggested that a special fundof between RM500 million and RM1 billion be established to assist small-and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to be active in downstream activities.

This was one of four proposals materialised at a one-day palm oil seminarorganised by the National Economic Action Council (NEAC) in Putrajayayesterday.

The other three were the establishment of a business intelligence unit, aspecial purpose vehicle for the industry and a consortium to superviseoverseas ventures.

The four proposals made at the seminar have been submitted to theGovernment for consideration. The seminar was chaired by NEAC executivedirector Datuk Mustapa Mohamed.

Among the panel members of the seminar are Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd groupchief executive officer Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim and Malaysian PalmOil Board (MPOB) director general Datuk Dr Yusof Basiron.

The proposed fund to assist the SMEs in the palm oil industry’s downstreamactivities was suggested by consulting company Arthur D. Little.

Currently, the industry does not have a fund for research and developmentactivities, except the RM120 million Price Stabilisation Fund to ensurethat palm oil prices does not drop below RM1,000 a tonne.

However, a cess of RM15 for every tonne of crude palm oil is collected, ofwhich RM1 is channelled for research and development activities managed byMPOB.

Malaysia is the world’s largest producer of palm oil by volume, producing11.9 million tonnes last year, of which 10.8 million tonnes worth almostRM20 billion were exported to 140 countries.

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