Jakarta: The world's two largest producers of palm oil, Indonesia and Malaysia, have decided to increase their cooperation to combat "discrimination" against the product, according to President Joko Widodo, who made the announcement on Monday following a meeting with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Together, the nations of Southeast Asia produce 85 percent of the world's palm oil, a sector that is significant to their economies and has long been linked to deforestation.
Anwar was welcomed by Widodo at the presidential residence in Bogor, West Java. Anwar was on his first international trip since taking office in November when he visited Indonesia.
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In order to expand the palm oil market and combat prejudice against palm oil, we have also decided to intensify our cooperation through the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries, or CPOPC, Widodo said at a joint press conference.
Consumer campaigns against products containing palm oil have increased in recent years due to worries about the widespread destruction of tropical rainforests, the destruction of habitats for endangered wildlife, land disputes with indigenous communities, and labour rights violations.
According to CPOPC, palm oil has "experienced discrimination" on the EU market due to factors like the bloc's stringent sustainability standard requirement.
Due to the commodity's connections to deforestation, which have sparked protests from Indonesia and Malaysia, the EU plans to phase out use of palm oil-based fuels by 2030 under its renewable energy directive. The import of goods that contribute to global deforestation would be prohibited, according to a temporary agreement that EU lawmakers and governments reached last month.
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The latest action by the bloc would negatively impact "small farmers," according to CPOPC. A deforestation-free certificate requirement for palm oil and six other products has just been adopted by the EU... Small farmers will only be burdened more if that requirement is met, CPOPC Secretary-General Rizal Affandi Lukman told Arab News.
The situation in military-ruled Myanmar, border demarcation, and the employment and protection of Indonesian migrant workers in Malaysia—a nation that has a history of abuse and human trafficking—were also topics of discussion during the leaders' meeting on Monday.
According to a statement released by Malaysia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, private sectors from the two countries had previously signed several agreements totaling more than $360 million.
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Anwar declared that Malaysia was prepared to contribute to the construction of Nusantara, the new capital of Indonesia, on the shared Borneo island. The development of the region, according to Anwar, will be aided by Nusantara's proximity to Malaysia's Sabah and Sarawak states.
The development of the capital, he claimed, would benefit Sabah and Sarawak as well as the rest of the region more generally.