JAKARTA — China’s import of palm oil from Indonesia makes up 73.8 percent of its total imports of palm oil. To maintain the market, Indonesia needs to ensure the sustainability of its palm oil products amid the incessant sustainability campaigns in China.
The agriculture ministry’s Plantation Products Processing and Marketing Acting Director Baginda Siagian said that palm oil is one of the strategic commodities of Indonesia, as its exports contribute significantly to its total foreign exchange. “But we shouldn’t be complacent with the current market condition. We need to continue pursuing efforts of improving the sustainability of our palm oil products to make them more acceptable at the international market, especially China,” he said during the multi-stakeholders workshop, which was organized by WRI Indonesia and the Forum of Indonesian Smallholders of Sustainable Palm Oil in Jakarta on Wednesday, 09 November 2022.
He said that such efforts need support from all stakeholders, including producers, cooperatives, smallholders and academicians to develop sustainable palm oil in Indonesia.
Transformation
The transformation of Asian market towards more sustainable was also presented by Bukti Bagja, Senior Manager of Supply Chain and Livelihood Transformation at WRI Indonesia. Two main export markets of Indonesia in Asia, namely India and China, have shown the trend of green transformation.
India has launched a green program called Sustainable Palm Oil Coalition for India. China during the last four years has also initiated a number of green programs, which include China Sustainable Palm Oil Alliance in 2018, Proposal on green value chain policy in 2020 and guideline on palm oil consumption by China’s Chamber of Foods and Chinese Original Products in 2022.
“We need to keep implementing the sustainability principles to maintain our export markets. That way the palm oil industry will continue its significant contribution to the national economic growth,” said Bukti Bagja.
WRI China, which was represented by Wan Jian – Research Associate, Food and Natural Resources Program, underlined the importance of collaboration between Indonesia and China in realizing the sustainability of palm oil. Indonesia as the world’s largest producer of palm oil and China as the largest importer of palm oil have a significant role in developing the global supply chain of sustainable palm oil.
“Both countries can strengthen their cooperation through the issuance of policies that are able to push multinational companies in the two countries to be more committed to realizing the sustainability of palm oil. The multinational companies can fulfill the need of companies and consumers for the sustainable palm oil products,” said Wan Jian. (*)
Source: gapki.id / msn.com
