World Growth Lauds President Yudhoyono’s Support for Palm Oil Industry

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Melbourne – World Growth today fully commended recent remarks by Indonesia’s President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono for acting decisively to protect Indonesia’s multi-billion dollar palm oil industry. The Indonesian palm oil industry, as well as that of Malaysia, have come under attack from governments and NGOs with wild claims of tropical rainforest destruction, destruction of the orang-utan and unsustainable business practices. World Growth Chairman Ambassador Oxley made the following statement: “The President’s remarks to Jakarta’s diplomatic corps show strong government support for an industry which it believes is sustainable. This is a direct message to governments represented at the gathering that activities to limit the Indonesian palm oil industry are frowned upon by Indonesia.
“The global campaign by EU-funded NGOs against South East Asia palm oil producers is intentionally designed to drive away customers and erect barriers to prevent market access. Examples of this include European import restrictions on Indonesian palm oil biofuel that are discriminatory and WTO inconsistent. Other members of the WTO, namely Brazil, Malaysia and the United States have already warned about discriminatory EU restrictions on biofuel imports.
“European Governments are now also pushing discriminatory tariffs to favour certain products, which are certified as sustainable by NGOs. There is growing concern in the international trade community with these anti-free trade strategies to use sustainability systems to restrict trade. There is also concern about the tactics used to pressure business and governments to adopt them. Leading this effort is the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
“The Indonesian Government should be commended for developing its own system to verify the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil. A government-sponsored system gives consumers confidence in the sustainability of the product it is buying. The United States Government uses a similar approach to verify the health and safety of its beef exports.
World Growth also cited ample research showing that claims used by NGOs to push their global agenda that palm oil is a leading driver of tropical rainforest destruction in South East Asia are incorrect. Here are the facts:
– The palm oil industry in South East Asia contributed to only 3 per cent of total deforestation between 1990 and 2005 according to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation;
– The palm oil plantations occupy less than 1 per cent of the agriculture land globally, while accounting for more than a third of the global trade in vegetable oils;
– The industry is a significant employer, with more than 600,000 Malaysians and over 1 million Indonesians employed directly by the industry and downstream sectors;
– Malaysia is a carbon sink, sequestering more than 220 million tonnes per year, to which the palm oil industry is an important contributor; and
– Both Malaysia and Indonesia are firmly committed to forest conservation, maintaining pledges to conserve more than 50 and 25 per cent of their forests, respectively.
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World Growth is an international non-governmental organization established to expand the research, information, advocacy, and other resources to improve the economic conditions and living standards in developing and transitional countries. At World Growth, we embrace the age of globalization and the power of free trade to eradicate poverty and create jobs and opportunities. World Growth supports the production of palm oil and the use of forestry as a means to promote economic growth, reduce poverty and mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. World Growth believes a robust cultivation of palm oil and forestry provides an effective means of environmental stewardship that can serve as the catalyst for increasing social and economic development. For more information on World Growth, visit www.worldgrowth.org.