Malaysia: Ministry To Lead Palm Oil And Rubber Mission To Pakistan, Iran, Turkey

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 (Bernama) – Malaysia’s Deputy Primary Industries Minister Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin will lead a palm oil and rubber economic, promotion and investment mission to Pakistan, Iran and Turkey from Jan 18-26. In a statement Friday, the ministry said the delegation would comprise senior officials of the agency under the Ministry of Primary Industries (MPI) and representatives from commodity industry associations. MPI secretary-general Dr Tan Yew Chong will hold meetings with counterparts at relevant ministries and agencies in those countries. “The objective of the mission is to explain the advantages of commodity products as compared to other producing countries as well as to deliberate on trade issues related to market access to our commodity products. “These include high import taxes of up to 40 per cent on palm oil products imposed by Iran and other non-tariff barriers to be imposed by Pakistan such as the ban on food products (vanaspati) containing palm oil,” it said. The ministry said the three countries are among the major markets for Malaysian commodities such as palm oil, rubber and timber. In 2017, exports to Pakistan, Iran and Turkey for the three commodities were RM3.05 billion, RM2.48 billion and RM 3.63 billion (US$1 = RM4.11) respectively. “Therefore, the mission is important not only to maintain market share of Malaysian commodity products in the country but also to increase the market share to a higher level,” it said. It said activities that have been planned throughout the mission include conferences, seminar presentations, roundtable discussions, bilateral meetings and other stakeholder engagements. -- BERNAMA