North Korea shaping up as major palm market for MalaysiaKuala Lumpur (Business Times) 6/11/2001- Malaysia is shaping North Koreaup to be one of its main palm oil consumers as the country has potentialto be a major market for the commodity.Industry sources said North Korea can easily take up to 200,000 tonnes ofpalm oil yearly but said efforts should have been made to tap the marketyears ago."Malaysia should have exploited the market when prices were low.The Government could have sold 50,000 tonnes to 100,000 tonnes of palm oilwhen prices were down to North Korea as a prelude to a long-term goal," asource told Business Times in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.He noted that the Government has nothing to lose in promoting palm oil inNorth Korea because in doing so national stocks can be reduced and priceswill increase."It can also be part of several tactics to create awareness � get in themarket and address anti-palm oil sentiments.And when prices rise, the Government can reap the returns," he said.At present, representatives of Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council(MPOPC) and the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) are conducting a seminarin Pyongyang to promote Malaysian palm oil.The source said for Malaysia to further develop its palm oil market, amodification or an extension of the Palm Oil Credit and PaymentArrangement (POCPA) scheme could be extended to North Korea and otherdeserving countries on humanitarian grounds."The scheme can be extended to countries which are facing financialdifficulties such as the Russian satellites in Eastern Europe, severalAfrican countries and other poor countries with a payback period ofbetween seven to 10 years," he said."We don't want to see a situation such as in Russia where the POCPA schemehas been thwarted somewhat because the central bank could not provideMalaysia a bank guarantee on its commitment to fulfil its part under thescheme," he said.Introduced by Malaysia several years ago, POCPA is a form of bilateralpayment arrangement to promote counter trade of palm oil for commoditiessuch as rice, beef, sesame seed oil or groundnut oil between signatorycountries.The scheme is also aimed at promoting research and development (R and D)of palm oil among research organisations of signatory countries and alsoto revive an industry faced with weakening demand for the past few years.Malaysia has roped in Algeria, Sudan, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Myanmar,Bosnia Herzegovina and Cuba under the scheme.New signatories include Russia, Egypt and Bangladesh, with plans to takein Ukraine and Djibouti.North Korea and Malaysia have signed a memorandum of understanding underthe POCPA scheme last year in which North Korea was extended a credit ofUS$10 million (US$1 = RM3.80) with a payback period of two years.