MPOPC promotes palm oil in rural BangladeshKuala Lumpur, 6/21/2001-The Malaysian Palm Oil Rural Promotion Programmehas been launched in Bangladesh. Datuk Dr. Mohd. Yusof Ahmad, theMalaysian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, inaugurated the programme atBhulta, a village 30km from Dhaka, on Sunday.About 1,000 villagers from Bhulta gathered at a school to know more aboutthe goodness of palm oil.The Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOPC) and Bangladesh Edible OilLtd (BOEL), a private company, are jointly organising the programme whichwill continue for three months and cover 90 village.Palm oil introduced to consumers in Bangladesh about 25 years ago and hassteadily become popular. Now it is a well-know edible oil among urbanconsumers and the import of palm oil into Bangladesh has been increasingrapidly.At Bhulta, the benefits of palm oil were explained to villagers throughlectures and films. Booklets containing information were also distributed.Dr Yusof said he is confident palm oil will gain wider acceptance inBangladesh.The use of Malaysian palm oil as an everyday consumer product is no longera rarity in the Bangladesh market, Dr Yusof said. The last few years haveindeed witnessed Malaysian palm oil emerging as a viable alternative toother imports among local consumers.Datuk Haron Siraj, chief executive officer of MPOPC, who was also at thelaunch, said the objective of the rural promotion programme is to increaseconsumer awareness of palm oil. it is, he said, a healthy edible oilnaturally rich in vitamin-E and affordable.Besides promoting palm oil. Haron said, MPOPC and BEOL will construct aculvert on the canal on the eastern side of the school field at Bhulta tofacilitate the movement of local people.AKM Fakhrul Alam, country representatives of MPOPC in Bangladesh, said theimport of palm oil into Bangladesh has been rising.During the first five months of this year, 170,000 tonnes of palm oil wereimported. The import volume is much higher than that of the correspondingperiod of last year, he added.