24/09/05 (The Star) - INDONESIAN palm oil output will likely match thatof Malaysia in three to four years, Indonesian Palm Oil ProducersAssociation (GAPKI) chairman Derom Bangun said.

He said the republic currently produced 13.6 million tonnes of palm oilagainst Malaysia's 14.9 million tonnes this year.

"We will produce about 14.7 million tonnes next year but Malaysia'sproduction will also increase," he told reporters after a meeting of theCriteria Working Group (CWG) under the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil(RSPO) initiative in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Bangun is vice-president II of the RSPO.

Accounting for the output increase, Bangun said the world saw demand forpalm oil rising by two million tonnes each year due to improvement in thestandard of living in consuming countries, especially India and China.

For instance, he said India needed 11 million tonnes of edible oilannually but could only produce half of that requirement.

India, therefore, imported palm oil to the tune of four million tonnesfrom both Malaysia and Indonesia, and had also been importing soyoil tocater to its demand, he said. - Bernama