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MEDIA RELEASE

MINISTER OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES YB TERESA KOK EXTENDS HER CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOUR WOMEN JUDGES PROMOTED

I would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to YAA Dato' Rohana Yusuf on Her Ladyship's appointment as the President of the Court of Appeal. Also, heartiest congratulations to YA Dato' Zaleha Yusof, YA Dato' Zabariah Mohd Yusof, and YA Datuk Hasnah Dato' Mohammed Hashim, who were elevated to the Federal Court.

The appointment of YAA Dato' Rohana Yusuf is a proud first in Malaysian history for a female judge to be appointed as the president of the Court of Appeal. She is the first woman to reach the second-highest position in the judiciary after Tan Sri Tengku Maimun Tuan Mat broke new ground by becoming Malaysia’s first woman chief justice. Her elevation means that the two leaders of the judiciary are now women.

The three newly elevated Federal Court Judges, YA Dato' Zaleha Yusof, YA Dato' Zabariah Mohd Yusof, and YA Datuk Hasnah Dato' Mohammed Hashim should also be applauded as we now have four women judges out of the nine Federal Court judges.

These extraordinary women have demonstrated great depths in their knowledge of the law. They are now taking up top positions in the nation's judiciary and are setting a good example for all young women in Malaysia.

Having such gender diversity at the highest level of the Judiciary is definitely a positive move and should be highly commended. These historic appointments demonstrate that qualifications, skills and knowledge are indeed appreciated in our Malaysia Baharu!

YB Teresa Kok
6 December 2019

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Last Updated: 09 January 2020

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MEDIA RELEASE

STATEMENT FROM YB TERESA KOK, MINISTER OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES PALM OIL IS THE BEST AGRI-COMMODITY CROP FOR MALAYSIA

Tun Daim was yesterday quoted by the Malay Mail in his report, “No future for palm oil, but coconuts is a possibility”, which I view with much concern. My opinion is that both the oil palm and coconut cultivation which are highly appropriate for our climatic conditions have their respective roles in our environment. When properly managed these could prove complimentary to each other in many ways.

Nevertheless, there is a good reason why Palm oil is still the best agri-commodity for Malaysia. The industry contributed 4.5% to the Malaysian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and RM67.5 billion or 52.8% of export earnings to the country in 2018.

Our historical venture into this commodity speaks for itself. Under Tun Abdul Razak’s premiership, the nation turned towards oil palm cultivation to address rural poverty. We have never turned back and this golden crop has performed admirably, salvaging our economy many times over. The industry itself benefited through a planned infrastructure support paid by the government that in reality allowed us to achieve our current status as a leading producer and exporter of palm oil.

Today, I agree that the nation’s smallholders are stressed due to lower returns from their small plots of land and we need to take corrective actions quickly. Historically the original smallholders, especially those provided land under several schemes such as FELDA and FELCRA, tended to their crops on their own or with their immediate family’s assistance.

Any income generated, less inputs, was theirs to keep and this elevated their living standards tremendously. The nation simultaneously witnessed many sons and daughters of these smallholders graduating from local and foreign universities to take up key positions in all walks of our Malaysian life.

As many among the original smallholders have aged and their children are less inclined to tend their land, they have effectively become absentee landlords leasing their lands to others. This also means that income generated is split between parties and less is received by the smallholders themselves.

On top of this productivity losses among smallholders are common. The current nationwide MSPO certification is helping to address some of these challenges and we hope overall income will rise in tandem with global palm oil commodity prices.

Tun Daim has rightly pointed out that the future for palm oil hinges upon creating more food demand, through diversification of applications and new product innovations. Curiously, experts in the oils and fats fraternity tell us that new product innovations with any oil or fat is actually becoming more far and wide but regular inter oil substitutions is highly possible.

The good thing for palm oil is that global supply and demand dynamics are in a very tightly balanced platform. Coupled to this we have an ever growing global population especially in developing countries that demands more oils and fats for food consumption. Palm oil as the most cost effective oil will continue to play a pivotal role and it is hard to imagine a scenario wherein it can be replaced by other oils including coconut for its pricing, functionality and versatility.

We simply need to pay greater attention to our current cultivation and processing practices. For small holders replanting with higher oil yielding varieties is a better choice forward. My Ministry has been encouraging smallholders to practise inter-cropping with other crops that fetch high prices. These could include pineapples, coconuts, vegetables, as well as animal husbandry to diversify their income sources. They won’t be so affected when the palm oil price is low.

Malaysian coconut cultivation has over the years being neglected and it is common for us to drive along coastal roads to see such neglect in rural communities. In agreeing partially with Tun Daim, I would like to propose coconut cultivation in such areas be revitalized using high yielding short dwarf coconut palms.

Lest we forget, I would also draw attention to the fact that the palm oil industry also produces palm kernel oil from the kernel of the oil palm fruit. This for all purposes duplicates the functionality of coconut oil and is highly in demand. Should Malaysia venture into a targeted coconut oil cultivation program, I can assure you that it will also be welcomed by our palm oleochemical industries.

The bottom line to these suggestions is that we can actually make both crops work for our smallholders and economy. It could simply be a question of maximizing our land use patterns and see no reason to aggressively switch away from oil palm cultivation. The demand for the oil is quite assured.

Furthermore my ministry is enforcing new policies such as capping the total oil palm cultivated area to 6.5 million hectares; stop new planting of oil palm in the peatland; ban the conversion of forest reserved areas for oil palm cultivation and open up oil palm plantation maps available for public access. The future or palm oil is through its sustainable production traced throughout its supply chain. I would also be bold to suggest that such sustainability standards would also likely be demanded for coconut oil in the future. I would thus disagree with the quote from Tun Daim but rather say that there are various opportunities and good prospects for both palm and coconut in our country, provided we sustainably manage these supply chains.

YB TERESA KOK
MINISTER OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
28 NOVEMBER 2019

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Last Updated: 09 January 2020

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PRESS RELEASE
ATTRACTED TO MALAYSIAN PALM OIL, LEADING COMMODITIES SUPPLY CHAINS SEEK GREATER PARTICIPATION AND OPPORTUNITIES

Today, Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and I as Minister of Primary Industries witnessed the signing of two separate MoUs seeking greater participation in the global trade of Malaysian palm oil.

Through these MoUs, the Malaysian signatory, Bohai Commoditity Exchange Malaysia/Asean, has struck a partnership with two major supply chain managers in the United Arab Emirates and China.

Hakan Agro DMCC, from Dubai is a major player in the commodities supply chain and has extensive business exposure in the Indian sub-continent, Middle East and the UAE.

Already well entrenched in the commodities trade, Hakan Agro DMCC is confident that they would facilitate export of more than one million MT of Malaysian palm oil in their core markets in the Indian sub-continent in 2020.

Their enthusiasm has been further fortified by knowledge that Malaysia’s Ministry of Primary Industries and Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) are embarking on an aggressive diversification of Malaysian palm oil into new markets.

China’s Bohai Commodity Exchange who signed the second MoU also see an uptrend demand for Malaysian palm oil and other commodities into China. It aims to import about 1.5 million MT into China by 2020.

They aim to target primarily the inner regions of China which are less exposed to palm oil, yet offer significant growth potential due to the large populations in the inner regions and which are also registering significant economic growth.
I am pleased that such well-established and experienced international supply chain managers are stepping in to help Malaysia diversify its palm oil markets.

Pressured by the EU’s potential displacement of palm biofuels and the recent spate with Indian oils and fats trade associations, these developments are timely and most welcomed.

On top of India and China, I am confident that Malaysia will find new and alternate markets for palm oil with growth targeted in ASEAN, Africa and the Middle East. Buoyed by the recent heathy spike in palm oil prices, the industry is ready to prove many distractors wrong.

Much was also talked about when an Indian trade association recently signalled non-palm oil trade with Malaysia. This also came back to back at the time when Malaysia had already increased its palm oil exports to India to record levels in excess of 4 million MT due to an advantageous tax structure in India.

Our market performance in India this year, up to December 2019, is thus projected to increase by at least 80% minimum, compared to the 2018 Indian import statistics.

Nevertheless, I have asked my Ministry officials to look into various measures including counter trade with China, India and other major importer countries. I am confident that our differences will be settled amicably and the excellent trade, cultural and diplomatic relations with India will be an enduring one.

Lastly, I applaud this MoU with the Bohai Commodity Exchange China and Hakan Agro DMCC, which should facilitate our own efforts for greater palm oil penetration in China, India and the Indian sub-continent.

Their online trading platform could open up opportunities for greater inflow of finished, ready to use palm based products which is key to adding significant value to our overall export revenue from palm oil and products.

YB TERESA KOK
MINSTER OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES
14th NOVEMBER 2019

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Last Updated: 10 January 2020

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KENYATAAN MEDIA

MISI EKONOMI DAN PROMOSI KE ARAB SAUDI
PADA 22 – 26 APRIL 2019

1. Kementerian Industri Utama (MPI) akan mengadakan misi ekonomi dan promosi ke Arab Saudi mulai 22 – 26 April 2019 yang diketuai oleh YB Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, Timbalan Menteri Industri Utama. Delegasi yang akan disertai oleh pegawai kanan Kementerian dan agensi di bawah Kementerian akan mengadakan beberapa pertemuan dengan pemain industri sawit dan di Arab Saudi.

2. Pertemuan dengan pihak berkepentingan ini diadakan bagi membincangkan isu-isu semasa berkaitan perdagangan minyak sawit, meneroka peluang pasaran dan rakan dagangan baru serta memperkukuhkan jaringan rangkaian perdagangan untuk meningkatkan import minyak sawit dan produk kayu negara. Selain itu, pertemuan ini juga dapat memberi ruang bagi Malaysia menerangkan usaha-usaha yang telah dilaksanakan dalam memastikan pengeluaran minyak sawit mampan serta kebaikan minyak sawit kepada kesihatan.

3. Arab Saudi merupakan antara pasaran terbesar bagi eksport minyak sawit dan produk berasaskan sawit serta kayu dan produk kayu Malaysia dalam kalangan negara-negara Timur Tengah. Pada tahun 2018, nilai eksport minyak sawit dan produk berasaskan sawit serta kayu dan produk kayu ke Arab Saudi adalah sebanyak RM1.49 billion. Rantau Timur Tengah dilihat sebagai antara destinasi eksport produk komoditi yang berpotensi untuk dikembangkan dan seterusnya meningkatkan lagi syer pasaran produk komoditi di pasaran antarabangsa.

4. Misi ini merupakan salah satu langkah berterusan Kementerian untuk mempromosikan eksport produk komoditi. Aktiviti-aktiviti yang telah dirancang sepanjang misi ini termasuk persidangan, perbincangan dengan pihak industri dan lawatan kerja diharapkan dapat mempromosikan eksport industri komoditi negara dan seterusnya menyumbang kepada peningkatan pendapatan negara.

Kementerian Industri Utama
23 April 2019