05/10/2007 (Daily Express News), Sandakan - Industrial Development Minister, Datuk Ewon Ebin said self-regulation is the key to the palm oil industry's sustainability over the long term.

He said palm oil producers and exporting countries have no choice but to go for sustainability through self-regulation so that the industry will be accepted by the world.

"The palm oil industry has been the subject of intense negative campaign for many years. From misleading the public about the nutritional qualities of palm oil, the anti-palm oil lobbyists have now turned their focus on the issues of sustainability, alleged destruction of rainforests and Orang Utan habitats by oil palm companies.

"From land clearing, effluent discharge, clean development mechanism, emission reduction to even oil spills in ports and harbours, we the producing and exporting countries have no alternative but to live by sustainability," he said.

Ewon was opening a BIMP-EAGA Oil Palm Industry Stakeholders Forum, here, Thursday.

The forum was organised by the Palm Oil Industrial Cluster (POIC) and supported by Germany technical Cooperation (GTZ) to generate data for the formulation of an action plan for the overall development of the industry.

He said players in the industry have a vital role in preserving the earth and surroundings for the future generations.

"Pollution affects you and I. Climate change will not pick and choose which country to impact. We owe it to ourselves to self-regulate so that people in the world will accept us and utilise our oil palm products.

"Like they say, the best regulation is self-regulation. I don't think we would like the idea that one day some foreign pressure group may dictate how we should grow our oil palm, and we may find ourselves compelled to follow what they say because our palm oil depends on foreign markets," he said.

On the other hand, Ewon said the oil palm sector is a major contributor to job creation, economic growth and social stability in all BIMP (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines) countries except perhaps for Brunei.

"The market potential for the palm oil industry is huge and there is every reason for the governments of BIMP-EAGA to pool their resources to galvanise their combined strengths and potential global dominance in this sector.

He said the State Government believes that its policies and the facilities of POIC Lahad Datu combine to be a potential winner for all BIMP member countries.

"The Sabah government has huge plans for POIC in Lahad Datu and has spent about RM500 million, to date, to make POIC a state-of-the-art palm oil industrial cluster.

Ewon said POIC Lahad Datu is relevant to the BIMP member countries in general as it is located within the palm oil producing belt of Sabah, and in proximity to the oil palm plantations in Kalimantan provinces and the coconut oil-producing provinces in southern Philippines.

Given the Philippines' global position as a premier producer of coconut oil and the rapidly expanding oil palm acreage in East Malaysia and Kalimantan, he said, it is a safe bet that the EAGA (East Asia Growth Area) region will be the catchment for half the world's production of palm oil, and a vital region for production of edible oils, in the near future.

He said the first two palm oil-based biodiesel plants in Borneo have been set up and they are among 13 companies that have purchased land in POIC Lahad Datu. Together, he said these companies are expected to bring in more than one billion ringgit of investment in the next few years.

With more than 1.2 million hectares of oil palm, Ewon said Sabah possesses 30 per cent of the 4.16 million hectares of oil palm in Malaysia. Malaysia and Indonesia account for over 80 per cent or 31.79 of the 36.7 million tonnes produced worldwide in 2006.

"This fact alone underscores the significance of today's oil palm stakeholders' forum because truly BIMP-EAGA is the heartland for the world's palm oil.

"And when we look at the increasing importance of palm oil worldwide both as edible oil and as feedstock for many breakthrough industrial, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical processes, BIMP-EAGA's importance cannot be ignored," Ewon said.