Malaysia Champions Livelihoods Of 650,000 Oil Palm Smallholders

By Massita Ahmad SINGAPORE, Mac 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia is fighting hard to champion the livelihoods of more than 650,000 smallholders in its rural areas who will be affected by a palm oil ban. "You cannot discriminate against the poor people of Malaysia and our neighbour Indonesia as well," said International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed when met at the 24th ASEAN Economic Ministers' Retreat and Related Meetings here. Mustapa said Malaysia pressed the European Union (EU) not to impose the ban and he would raise the issue when he meets EU Trade Commissioner Cecilia Malmstroem on the sidelines of the meetings. Bernama was made to understand the meeting between Mustapa and Malmstroem, who is currently heading an EU delegation to the two-day meeting, was held in late afternoon on Thursday. The European Parliament had voted in favour of a draft law on renewable energy that calls for the use of palm oil in biofuels to be banned from 2021. The EU has reasoned that the widely-used commodity would derail Europe’s ambitions to green its transport sector if used as biodiesel. As the world's top exporters of palm oil, both Malaysia and Indonesia will be hardly hit by the move. "This is a subject that is very important to us. Of course, I will raise the subject at every opportunity that we have with EU representatives," Mustapa said when asked by Bernama whether he would use the meetings as a platform to raise the issue. "The EU Parliament vote is not yet binding. We have been in communication and they have been providing assurances that this is not final yet. “I have met my Indonesian counterpart who takes care of palm oil and we agreed that we will pursue this persistently together for the livelihoods of our smallholders,” he said. The EU is the second-largest palm oil export market for both Malaysia and Indonesia. -- BERNAMA