REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia's oil palm plantations, which cover an area of 10 million hectares, create jobs for 21 million people, according to the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin).

At present, the oil palm plantations provide direct employment to five million people and indirect employment to 16 million others, the Deputy Chairman of the Agribusiness and Food Affairs of Kadin, Franky O. Widjaja, said here on Wednesday.

This means that the palm oil industry helps eradicate poverty, he remarked.

"Oil palm plantations have the potential to be developed not only to accommodate workers in large numbers but also to cater to high demand for vegetable oils," he noted.

Furthermore, Widjaja pointed out that 8 percent of the country's 10 million hectares of oil palm plantations was controlled by state companies, 49 percent by private companies and 43 percent by farmers.

"It is a misconception that Indonesia's palm oil industry is dominated by large-scale companies," he stated.

The Kadin official further noted that the Indonesian palm oil industry was the most efficient and competitive among all industries in the country.

Moreover, the plantations in Indonesia need lower acreage than similar industries abroad, which need 8 to 10 hectares of land to produce the same volume of palm oil.

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