Malaysia has pledged to partner with government and local industry players in the development of oil palm in the country in exportable quantities.
The commitment was expressed by a Malaysian business delegation attending the 2017 Ghana-Malaysia oil palm trade seminar in Accra.
Spokesperson for the delegation noted that Ghana is one of Malaysia’s biggest trading partners on the African continent with a cumulative trade between the two countries standing at about US$337 million as of last year – 2016. Hence, they were enthusiastic about creating more platforms for greater partnerships between both nations.
In an encounter with the media on the sidelines of the event – leader of the delegation and Chairman of the Malaysian Palm Oil Council, Dato Lee Yeow Chor noted that the production of Palm oil to meet export demand was a long tern achievement. Hence, “for the next five to ten years lands will have to be bought and cultivatedâ€.
He outlined some steps that could be adopted by the country to grow its oil palm production to an exportable level by reiterating that he thought “it is a long-term venture†involving the next one year for planting followed by another three to four years for development of the palm trees and subsequent production. He added that it is an effort that “will require a lot of educationâ€.
If realized under the government’s ongoing implementation of its industrialization agenda, a Ghana – Malaysia oil palm trade represents potentially tens of millions of dollars in net import or export revenue for both countries as well as thousands of job opportunities for the country’s agricultural sector.