Minister Mah To Lead Economic, Promotional Mission To The Philippines

PUTRAJAYA (Malaysia), July 17 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will kick off an economic and promotional mission on palm oil and rubber to the Philippines from July 18-20 in a bid to explore and expand the commodities exports to the republic. Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister, Mah Siew Keong, who will lead the 22-member mission, said the delegation included representatives from his ministry, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board, Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Malaysian Rubber Board and the Malaysian Rubber Export Promotion Council. He said the mission was to enhance the exports of palm oil and rubber to the Philippines and explore collaboration between the private sectors of Malaysia and the Philippines to further strengthen trade in the respective commodity products. "The Philippines presents a very big market. We want to expand our oil palm market to many countries, not only the traditional markets. We want to explore new markets to get better demand for our commodities," he told a press conference here Monday. During the visit, Mah is scheduled to have bilateral discussions with Philippine Secretary of Trade and Industry, Ramon M. Lopez and Secretary of Energy, Alfonso G. Cusi. Mah is also slated to hold a dialogue session with palm oil and rubber importers, manufacturers, dealers, companies and business associations to boost and facilitate the networking for the private sectors between the two countries. The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry in a statement said the total merchandise exports to the Philippines were valued at US$3.17 billion (RM13.6 billion) and the exports of palm oil and palm oil products, as well as rubber and rubber products, stood at 18 per cent or US$573.84 million (RM2.46 billion) last year. (US$1 = RM4.28) From January to May this year, it said Malaysia exported RM1 billion worth of palm oil and palm oil products and RM98.3 million worth of rubber and rubber products to the Philippines, an increase of 12.2 per cent and 48.5 per cent, respectively, compared to the corresponding period last year. -- BERNAMA