Chongqing- On October 18, the China-Malaysia Sustainable Palm Oil Forum was held in Chongqing. The theme of this forum is themed with "Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO)-Creating a Beautiful Environment, Harmonious Society and Economic Value." RAJA DATO' Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin, Malaysian Ambassador in China, has attended the forum and delivered a speech.
RAJA DATO' Nushirwan Bin Zainal Abidin, Malaysian Ambassador to China, delivered the opening remark on the forum, photo by Yiling Wang/iChongqing
China and Malaysia are good neighbors facing each other across the sea and good partners who can rely on each other. According to Chinese statistics, from January to August this year, bilateral trade volume between China and Malaysia reached US$108.2 billion, a year-on-year increase of 35%. Chinese companies invested US$1.02 billion in Malaysia, a year-on-year increase of 54%. China has been Malaysia's largest trading partner for twelve consecutive years and has been the largest source of foreign investment for Malaysia's manufacturing industry for five consecutive years. Malaysia is China's second-largest trading partner in ASEAN.
The companies' booth on the forum, photo by Yiling Wang/iChongqing
Taking sustainability as a global goal, Malaysia hopes to reach a win-win situation with China to face global challenges such as climate change and carbon-reducing, according to Mr. Abidin during the interview with iChongqing. The Malaysian government initiated the "100 million tree planting project" on January 5, 2021, to ensure that 100 million trees will be planted nationwide by 2025, thereby realizing the Malaysian greening goal. According to strong evidence provided by the Sustainable Palm Oil Research Center, Malaysia's achievements in reducing forest loss are mainly due to implementing the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification program since 2015. Mr. Abidin hopes China could help Malaysia promote the MSPO as a developing country's standard to better achieve dual sustainable goals in the food industry.
Palm oil plays a crucial role in solving food and employment problems for most of the world's population. In 2020, palm oil accounted for more than 50% of total oil consumption in developing countries. This shows that palm oil is an option for consumers worldwide to obtain healthy and nutritious fats at the most competitive price. Malaysia has always been the traditional source of Chinese palm oil products imports. Imports from 1.02 million tons in 2000 to 2.96 million tons in 2020, a nearly threefold increase. Among the exported palm oil products, the most important is RBD palm olein (refined bleached deodorized palm olein), refined palm oil, palm kernel oil, and oleochemicals.
According to the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study, the sustainable policies implemented by the Malaysian oil palm industry can reduce carbon emissions from 1.11 tons per ton of palm oil to 0.63 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, a 56.8% reduction. This is equivalent to reducing emissions of 5.52 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent each year.