PUTRAJAYA: Palm Oil Refiners Association of Malaysia chief executive officer Mohammad Jaaffar Ahmad has been appointed as Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) deputy executive director.
“Jaaffar will represent Malaysia and he will assume the position of deputy executive director in CPOPC. He will be based in Jakarta,” said Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Mah Siew Keong.
“We will appoint the other two representatives in a couple of weeks. They will be tasked with taking care of smallholders interests and global palm oil stock management,” the minister added.
“We hope to accelerate the operations of the secretariat soon. The next CPOPC meeting will be in Jakarta in a few months time,” he told reporters after chairing a CPOPC meeting here today.
Also present was Indonesia’s Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan.
Earlier this month, the Indonesian government appointed Benny Wachyudi as the CPOPC executive director. The secretariat structure is such that four directors will report to the executive director and his deputy; two from Indonesia and two from Malaysia.
So far, Indonesia has appointed Fadhil Hasan the CPOPC director in charge of standards and sustainably issues. His responsibilities mainly lies in harmonising the certification criteria of the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) and Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO).
Luhut said Indonesia has yet to officially name the director for Green Economic Zone development.
Last year, the governments of Indonesia and Malaysia initiated the CPOPC as a common platform to promote palm oil and neutralise trade barriers as both nations collectively produce 85 per cent of the world’s consumption of this basic cooking ingredient.
There are some some 10 million small farmers tending to oil palms across the equatorial belt of the globe. Indonesia and Malaysia supply an annual 50 million tonnes of palm cooking oil as a kitchen staple among billions of people living in China, India and other developing nations.
Luhut expressed strong convictions for Indonesia and Malaysia to step up co-operation to dismantle increasing trade barriers hampering palm oil exports and future growth.
Apart from Indonesia and Malaysia, oil palms are also cultivated across Thailand, Papua New Guinea, Central and West Africa and Latin America -- all of which are developing countries in the humid tropics.
Essentially, Luhut said CPOPC membership, under government-to-government framework, is open to all oil palm cultivating countries such as Brazil, Colombia, Thailand, Ghana, Liberia, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and Uganda.
In raising palm oil usage, Luhut said Indonesia will execute a biodiesel mandate of B20.
Malaysia aspires to be on the same footing by raising biodiesel mandate from B7 to B10. Mah said he and his team are discussing the issue of engine warranty endorsement with automotive manufacturers.
Malaysia is serious about rolling out the B10 mandate as this would mop up 750,000 tonnes of palm oil stocks per year. Mah believes in the usage of renewable fuel, which is far more eco-friendly than burning depleting fossil fuel.
Jaaffar, who was also present at the media briefing, expressed appreciation to Mah for his confidence in him to take on this international posting in Jakarta, for the next three years.
He pledged to do his best in serving all stakeholders throughout the palm oil value chain.