PALMOILMAGAZINE, JAKARTA – The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the Indonesia Downstream Palm Oil Industry Business Forum in Jakarta to advance palm oil diplomacy and promote Indonesia’s downstream products internationally. The event gathered 128 participants, including potential buyers and national-level stakeholders.
In his address, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Pahala Nugraha Mansury, emphasized Indonesia’s role as a global leader in the palm oil industry, producing 59% of the world’s crude palm oil (CPO) and generating approximately US$ 28.45 billion in exports. Beyond its economic impact, the palm oil sector plays a critical role in social development and poverty alleviation.
However, the industry faces global challenges, such as trade barriers like the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). Pahala highlighted the need for cooperation among developing nations to address these issues, expand the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) membership, unify research efforts, and boost investments.
“This forum should help reduce misconceptions about the palm oil industry, foster new partnerships, and create collaborative opportunities to elevate Indonesia’s palm oil industry,” Pahala stated, as quoted by Palmoilmagazine.com on Saturday (12/10/2024).
Chairman of Indonesian Palm Oil Association (IPOA), Eddy Martono did appreciate the initiative of the ministry to conduct the forum and emphasized Indonesia should have the strong commitment to qualify and surpass every international scale – regulation in palm oil industries.
The business forum also provided the platform for national and international scale stakeholders to get business matching in four main sectors – oleofood, phytonutrients, oleochemical and biomaterial, renewable energy, and organic fertilizers from palm oil side products. Besides, the forum showed up cooking demonstration to show up the mainstay of palm oil products in food industries.
The foreign participants once visited PT Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology Tbk (SMART) to know about palm oil research and operation that qualified sustainability standards. (P2)
