Jakarta – Economic Coordinating Minister Airlangga Hartarto held a bilateral meeting with Malaysia’s Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz on the sidelines of the 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) province on Wednesday, 10 May 2023. During the meeting they agreed to increase their cooperation on palm oil and rubber.
“During the meeting, the two ministers agreed to support each other in implementing their policies and in conducting negotiations on the exports of palm oil and derivative products. They also agreed to increase cooperation under the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC),” Haryo Limanseto, Communication, Information and Conference Services Bureau Chief at the economic coordinating ministry, said in a written statement on Thursday.
Previously, in February 2023 Minister Airlangga met with Malaysia’s Deputy Prime Minister YAB Dato’ Sri Haji Fadillah bin Haji Yusof, who is also Plantation and Commodities Minister. They discussed about cooperation to tackle the problems of discrimination against palm oil. During the meeting, the two ministers had also discussed on the possibility of expanding membership of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) in the near future.
According to Airlangga, Indonesia’s economic growth during the first quarter 2023 reached 5.03% (yoy). The growth was also contributed by agriculture sector, including the palm oil sub-sector, which saw a growth of 4.73% (yoy) during the first quarter. The sectors of agriculture, forestry, and fishery contributed 0.04% of the total growth of Indonesia’s GDP.
Despite rising steadily, the Indonesian government has been continually strengthening bilateral cooperation to push up exports and to keep the national economy growing. The meetings between Minister Airlangga and his Malaysian counterparts are expected to further increase the two countries’ bilateral cooperation, especially in tackling global problems facing the palm oil, which is the top commodity of both countries.
Accompanying Airlangga during the meeting on the sidelines of ASEAN Summit 2023 were Trade Minister Zulkifli Hasan, secretary of the economic coordinating ministry, deputy in charge of international economic cooperation at the economic coordinating ministry, and director general of international trade negotiations at the trade ministry. (*)
Source: finance.detik.com
