22/8/2003 - PALM oil producers, buyers and non-governmental organisationsare working towards establishing a common stand in promoting thesustainable production of palm oil.

Malaysian Palm Oil Association chairman Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim saidthe initiative is to iron out differences and misconceptions about theindustry.

It is to promote sustainable palm oil production, best estate managementpractices and sustainable land use planning,” he told reporters in KualaLumpur after opening the first roundtable on the issue yesterday.

The roundtable is spearheaded by Anglia Oils and Sainsbury of the UK,Malaysia’s Golden Hope Plantations Bhd and the Malaysian Palm OilAssociation, Migros of Switzerland, Unilever of the Netherlands and theWorld Wildlife Fund of Switzerland.

The worry among environmentalists is that we take too much land inMalaysia or 3.6 million ha to plant oil palm while Indonesia also takes upthe same hectarage with the potential of developing an additional 3million ha more.

We have to work together to dispel this perception and make palm oilsustainability as a social responsibility such as improve use of land aswell as the welfare of over five mllion smallholders in Indonesia and500,000 families in Malaysia.”

Abdul Khalid said palm oil producers are responsible for setting their ownstandards, striking partnerships, promoting transparency.