Ahad 11 Oct 2015 23:56 WIB

Indonesia, Malaysia agree to set up palm oil council

Red: Julkifli Marbun
A worker unloads palm fruits at a local palm oil factory in the Serdang Bedagai district of Indonesia's North Sumatra province. (file)
Foto: Reuters/YT Haryono
A worker unloads palm fruits at a local palm oil factory in the Serdang Bedagai district of Indonesia's North Sumatra province. (file)

REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia have agreed to set up a Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (C Pop) with its headquarters to be located in Indonesia.

"This afternoon, some agreements have been reached, including one concerning palm oil producing countries. As we know that 85 percent of total global palm oil production is from Indonesia and Malaysia," President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) said after holding a meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak at the Bogor presidential palace in Bogor, West Java, Sunday.

The council will issue a new global sustainable palm oil standard, the president added.

The environmentally friendly standard is expected to help improve the welfare of four million oilpalm farmers in Indonesia and some 300 thousand oilpalm farmers in Malaysia, he remarked.