TEMPO.CO, Kuala Lumpur - The Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) welcomed the third country member that represents the South American region, Honduras.

"This is historic, [the number of] CPOPC members has increased," said the Indonesian Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Airlangga Hartarto, in a press conference after the 11th CPOPC Ministerial Meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Wednesday, May 17, 2023. In the near future, he added, Papua New Guinea will be a new member.

Previously, the country members of the CPOPC that is chaired by Malaysia this year were only Indonesia and Malaysia. But representatives from other countries often attended many previous meetings, such as the recent meeting in Kuala Lumpur on May 17, which was attended by representatives from Ghana, Papua New Guinea, and Nigeria, both as observers and guests.

Honduras' enrollment as a new member will further strengthen the cooperation among palm oil-producing countries. "This development will pave the way for other palm oil producing countries to join CPOPC and leverage it as a strategic platform in enhancing efforts to accelerate the attainment of sustainability goals," as quoted from CPOP's written statement.

In the meeting, Minister Airlangga Hartarto, Malaysia's Minister of Plantation and Commodities - who is also the Deputy PM of Malaysia, and Honduras Minister of Agriculture and Livestock underlined the importance of strengthening the strategic roles of CPOPC in providing collaboration and consolidated efforts among the palm oil producers.

Airlagga Hartarto shared his optimism that the production, demand, and prices of palm oil will grow this year despite the challenges in the industry. “We definitely see challenges against CPOPC products in Europe, India, and many other countries,” he said.

At the end of last year, The European Union issued the Deforestation-Free Products Regulation that highly impacted the palm oil industry. They are also formulating rules that will affect the palm oil industry, such as the regulation on forced labor, the green claim directive, and the third renewable energy directive.

Therefore, Indonesia and Malaysia plan to make a visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels on May 30-31, 2023.

PURWANI DIYAH PRABANDARI

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