BERITA SAWIT 2024

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KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian palm oil leaders are welcomed to establish a hub in the Suez Canal Economic Zone to tap on the free trade agreements that Egypt has signed with its neighbours, Egyptian ambassador to Malaysia Ragai Tawfik Said Nasr said.

The Egyptian government has invited the Malaysian government and private sector to create a hub where the crude palm oil will be refined and distributed in Egypt and its neighbouring countries, he added.

Ragai Tawfik said the trade and investment between Malaysian businesses and counterparts in the Middle East, including South Africa will be facilitated by the strong network of FTAs that Egypt has signed with almost all of its neighbouring countries.

The FTAs include Greater Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), Egypt-Europe Union Free Trade Agreement, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) and African Continental Free Trade Area.

"This also includes the plan to serve the food industries in the SCZone that are dependent on palm oil as a manufacturing input. We had a long discussion with the Malaysian stakeholders, and we arranged site visits for a number of government officials and business leaders.

"We are hopeful that these efforts will succeed in the near future specially after the recent visit of Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani to Egypt," Ragai Tawfik told Business Times in an exclusive interview.

In his visit to Egypt, Johari highlighted that Egypt can be the North African gateway for Malaysia to offer significant opportunities for creating higher-value products from palm derivatives in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, processed foods, personal care and consumer brands.

According to Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Malaysian palm oil accounted for 51.9 per cent of the Egypt's imports as of January 2024, surpassing Indonesian imports at 48.1 per cent.

Given these factors, MPOC believed Malaysian palm oil exports are positioned to maintain their robust performance throughout 2024.

On the efforts to strengthen bilateral trade and investment ties with Malaysia, Ragai Tawfik said Egypt had organised a number of successful online events that highlighted the business opportunities it offer to overcome the the lack of regular physical meetings between business people from both countries.

"(We also) raised awareness of the incentives that the Egyptian government is granting for the investors specially within the Suez Canal Economic Zone to many Malaysian companies," he added.

Beyond palm oil business, he pointed out that automotive, green energy, information and communication technology (ICT) industries could potentially enhanced the trade relations between both countries.

"We see Malaysia as an inspiring economic and industrial model. We aim to develop a stronger strategic partnership, especially in areas such as the advanced technology manufacturing and the Industry 4.0 applications in the manufacturing sector as well as data centres and ICT sectors," he said.

According to Ragai Tawfik, Malaysian carmaker Proton Holdings Bhd is currently involved in supplying the parts and technical support needed to its business partners in Egypt to begin assembling Proton Saga there by September this year.

"In the ICT sector, we would like to position Egypt as a hub for data centers and cloud computing in the Middle East, North Africa (MENA) region. Malaysia has recently succeeded to attract the giants like Google to build data centres and we learnt that Microsoft also are attracted to work in the country.

"As for green energy, the focus is to attract wind and solar power companies to work in Egypt as this sector is well-established and receives Egyptian government support, plus we already enjoy the strong natural sun and wind sources of power," he said.

Ragai Tawfik also emphasised the urgent need to reactivate the Egypt and Malaysia business council where Malaysia need to appoint a chairman.

He stated that such move will enable the business council to play its pivotal role in proposing initiatives that can enhance trade and investment between the two countries.

"We are looking forward to attract attention of the business community in both countries to the non-traditional business cooperation and opportunities which includes joint ventures and long-term business plans," he added.

 

https://www.nst.com.my/business/corporate/2024/06/1064575/invitation-set-palm-oil-hub

 

Sumber : New Straits Times

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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 6 ― The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) has an important role in ensuring the sustainability of Malaysia's oil palm industry so that the fate that befell the country’s rubber industry will not be repeated here, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said.

He said Felda, being the largest owner of plantation land in the country at 800,000 hectares needs to fully utilise its strength by increasing production and focusing on the downstream sector.

 "Try to imagine. If we are not focused on the downstream industry for the next 15 to 30 years, the palm oil industry will go down the same path as the rubber industry. I don't want to see that.

"We were the largest rubber producer in the world at one time. Today, we are the main producer of rubber products but we import natural rubber from Vietnam and Thailand because we do not have enough of it.

The strange thing is, we have 420,000 ha of rubber trees belonging to 290,000 smallholders,” he said in his keynote speech at the Felda 2024 Symposium here.

Malaysia produced 19.5 million tonnes of oil palm in 2013 while Indonesia produced 26 million tonnes. Malaysia’s production dropped to 18.5 million in 2023 while Indonesia’s grew its output to 46.5 million, he said.

Johari said Indonesia uses half of it for biodiesel production while Malaysia exports 15 million tonnes. He said the country's main oil palm players produced an estimated 20 tonnes of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) on a per hectare basis and suggested Felda raise its production to more than its 2023 production of 16.49 tonnes per hectare.

Therefore, he said it is important for Felda to consolidate its land assets and complete its infrastructure as best as possible.

As an example, if Felda were to produce 18 tonnes of FFB per hectare, its total yield would rise to 14.4 million FFB and the agency could become the largest producer with 2.8 million tonnes of crude palm oil (CPO), he said.

"Imagine, if the price of palm oil is RM4,000 per tonne, and the estimated cost is RM3,000, we make a RM1,000 profit. Overall, we will make a profit of RM2.8 billion.

"So, we have to learn from Felda's success first, and we put together a strategy for the next 20 to 30 years. I believe the 800,000 hectares belonging to Felda, if we are good at it, the fifth and later generation will be proud to be part of Felda,” said Johari.

He also envisioned Felda settlers to organise their land into large clusters and to fully operate their assets to produce downstream products.

"So, this oil palm industry is very important to the country. If Felda wants to be socially responsible, it is only 'sustainable' if it can make a large profit. No (company) can make a social contribution to society if it does not generate income,” he said. ― Bernama

 

https://www.malaymail.com/amp/news/malaysia/2024/02/06/johari-ghani-felda-must-ensure-oil-palm-industry-does-not-share-same-fate-of-rubber/116641

 

Sumber : Malay Mail

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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 7 ― The Ministry of Plantation and Commodities intends to make Egypt an essential part of its plan to expand Malaysia's palm oil exports to the African continent through the Suez Canal Economic Zone.

Its minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said economic cooperation in the palm oil sector between Malaysia and Egypt was discussed in his meeting with the Egyptian Ambassador to Malaysia Ragai Tawfik Nasir on Monday at his office.

"Egypt is a strategic country for our palm oil industry because palm oil makes up almost 90 per cent of Malaysia's exports to Egypt.

"Egypt has a population of more than 110 million people,” he said in a post on X today.

He also said that both countries are exploring a partnership in palm product marketing strategies involving government-linked companies along with the cooperation of private players in both countries.

In addition to Malaysia’s strong position as palm oil exporter to the country, Egypt is strategically located to be a potential gateway to other North African countries, he said. ― Bernama

 

https://www.malaymail.com/amp/news/malaysia/2024/02/07/johari-ghani-malaysia-to-work-with-egypt-to-expand-palm-oil-exports-to-africa/116822

 

Sumber : Malay Mail

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KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 29 ― The oil palm industry in Malaysia needs to be revamped, including ensuring the involvement of all related parties, to guarantee the sustainability of the sector in the future.

In stressing this matter, Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Ghani said industry players and smallholders need to work together to develop the industry without involving a lot of government allocations.

“Many issues need to be resolved, not only involving the ministry but also industry players such as the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), Felcra Bhd and the Rubber Industry Smallholders Development Authority (Risda).

“These (institutions) have to be strong so that the smallholders can depend on them. Otherwise, it will be difficult for the smallholders and it will affect their income,” he said on Bernama TV’s Ruang Bicara programme yesterday.

Elaborating further, Johari also emphasised the importance of implementing existing policies to attract interest in the purchasing of finished products as well as raw materials in the long term.

Apart from that, the perception of employment in the industry needs to be changed especially among the younger generation. For example, young people from settler families certainly have a foundation in the industry, he noted.

“Thus, what is needed is professional training through the technical and vocational education training (TVET) that can produce professionals in this industry for the future,” he said, adding that this would help to tackle the labour shortage issues in the industry.

The minister pointed out that the shortage of about 40,000 foreign workers in the oil palm sector has significantly impacted yields, leading to an estimated loss of RM7.9 billion in export value for Malaysia.

Regarding the issue of the European Union's Deforestation-free Products Regulation (EUDR), he said the government is always aware and compliant with the rules to produce quality palm oil and preserve its sustainability.

“I want to see every estate in Malaysia become a world-class plantation, with that all parties must comply with the guidelines and regulations that have been set,” he added.

Johari said through the Agricommodity Policy 2030, the government will preserve the environment as well as increase the productivity of the workforce and protect workers' rights.

This positive development will increase the value of palm oil exports and attract investments into the country, he added. ― Bernama

 

https://www.malaymail.com/news/money/2024/02/29/johari-ghani-oil-palm-industry-needs-to-be-revamped-to-be-more-sustainable/120656#google_vignette

 

Sumber : Malay Mail

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KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Plantation and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani will lead a Malaysian delegation to Egypt and Türkiye for a working visit from May 27 to June 1, 2024.

He is also scheduled to officiate the Malaysian Palm Oil Forum Egypt 2024 in Cairo on May 28.

In a statement on Sunday, the Plantation and Commodities Ministry said the annual forum, organised by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, (MPOC) seeks to explore the growth potential for palm oil in the North African region.

In his keynote address at the forum, Johari is expected to highlight the increasing global demand for cooking oil and its derivatives, as well as Malaysia's commitment to sustainable palm oil production. 

In addition, he will meet Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry and Minister of Supply and Internal Trade to strengthen bilateral cooperation between the two countries. He will also meet business leaders in the palm oil industry.

Subsequently, Johari will visit Türkiye, where he is scheduled to meet the country's Minister of Trade on May 31. The objective is to strengthen collaboration and identify new business opportunities between Malaysia and Türkiye in the palm oil sector .

“Türkiye is an important destination for Malaysian palm oil exports, making this meeting particularly significant for Malaysia,” the ministry said.

 

https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/712991

 

Sumber : The Edge Malaysia