KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 (Bernama) -- Export of palm oil to Pakistan and WestAsian region will continue as the government is willing to provideassistance to exporters in tackling the shipping disruptions following theSept 11 attacks on the United States, said Primary Industries Minister,Datuk Seri Dr Lim Keng Yaik.

He gave exporters the assurance that there would be enough ships aroundand companies to handle the freight and insurance charges for the exportof palm oil to those regions.

The disruption in shipping arising from the US attacks inAfghanistan,might translate into an increase in the insurance and freightcharges, he told reporters after meeting the oil palm refineries andexporters Tuesday.

He added that it was unclear as to what the insurance and freight chargeswere going to be and the government would try and resolve this problem bynext week.

He also did not rule out the possibility of the government providingsubsidies to oil palm exporters as it might want to to help stabilise theindustry.

Currently, he said the demand for palm oil had picked up, "The totalshipment to Pakistan until the middle of October this year was alreadymore han the total shipment of palm oil in the same period last year."

He was optimistic that the export would continue to increase with thestart of the fasting month and the present stock of around 1.2 milliontonnes tonnes reduced to a fairer level to reflect the production andexport.

-- BERNAMA