Monday 14 April 2008

Conference on palm oil to draw over 400

Monday April 14, 2008 The StarOnline, Malaysia

Conference on palm oil to draw over 400

KOTA KINABALU: More than 400 delegates are expected to attend the two-day International Palm Oil Sustainability Conference that begins here today.

Organised by Malaysian Palm Oil Promotion Council (MPOC), the conference will be opened by Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Peter Chin Fah Kui.

The conference is expected to address several important issues with regard to palm oil and other edible oils.

These include providing the Malaysian perspective to sustainable palm oil production, the need for certification of the global oils and fats industry, opportunities in biomass to liquids from palm biomass, development of oil palm plantations on peat land, governments' role in wildlife and conservation care and the palm oil industry, the life cycle assessment approach to illustrate palm oil's sustainability advantages and an update on the food, fuel and energy debate.

There will also be a special session devoted to the orang utan conservation in Malaysia and its current status as well as prospects.

As part of its efforts to highlight the palm oil industry's efforts in adhering to Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) and leading to sustainable production of palm oil, the MPOC had invited several foreign journalists on a familiarisation programme to Sandakan ahead of the conference here.
The journalists were also briefed on orang utan and wildlife conservation in Malaysia.

MPOC hopes that at the end of their two-day visit, they would have gained considerable understanding of the various GAP and wildlife conservation efforts being undertaken by Malaysia's palm oil industry. – Bernama