SKOREA STILL HIGH ON M'SIA'S LIST TO ENHANCE TIES IN PALM OIL INDUSTRY: DOMPOK

From Choong En Han

SEOUL, April 13 (Bernama) -- South Korea is still high on Malaysia's list to
further strengthen ties in relation to the palm oil industry with the South
Korean domestic and industrial market.

"The South Korean market is a developing market for palm oil, new products
introduced are usable in temperate climate and that will be how markets in
temperate climate are going to develop in relation to palm oil.

"We will continue to foster closer ties and provide new avenues for sharing
information, exchange ideas and establish business opportunities," said
Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Tan Sri Bernard Dompok.

Under the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs), the palm oil industry has
been slated to contribute RM178 billion to the Gross National Income (GNI) by
2020.

"Oil palm produces much more than other oil seeds for every hectare of land.
You need about 10 hectares for other oil seeds to produce the same amount of
output for oil palm.

"To support the 2020 aspirations, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) is
constantly researching on increasing the current four tonnes crude palm oil
yield per hectare.

"We feel we can double the yield," he told reporters after launching the
Malaysia-South Korea Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS) 2011 here Tuesday.

Last year, export earnings from oil palm products touched RM59.77 billion,
up 20.4 per cent from RM49.66 billion in 2009.

Dompok said the government was constantly engaging non-governmental
organisations to clear the misconception on palm oil sustainability.

"There are some misconceptions that are very glaring. For instance, claims
that the natural habitat for orang utan is being destroyed for oil palm
cultivation.

"In reality, the orang utan are located only in certain parts of Borneo
Island (Sabah and Sarawak), and not living across every inch in the country," he
added.

Meanwhile, Malaysian Palm Oil Council chairman Datuk Lee Yeow Chor said
besides being a good cooking oil, palm oil also contains beneficial bio-active
ingredients.

"Palm oil enjoys superior advantage over other soft bean oils as trans fat
does not exist at all. There is no hydrogenation. MPOB studies showed 50 per
cent of saturated fat in palm oil behaves differently compared with saturated
animal fat," he added.