Indonesian Vice President launches "oil palm for people"

Antara 2 Jun 10;

Yogyakarta (ANTARA News) - Vice President Boediono here on Wednesday launched an Oil Palm for the People Program designed to improve the oil palm industry`s structure from upstream to downstream.

The vice president made the declaration by granting palm oil prime seedlings to representatives of farmers from Aceh and Bengkulu provinces on the sidelines of the International Oil Palm Conference 2010 (IOPC 2010).

"The oil palm industry has good prospects in the future because it is a much needed commodity in the various stages of economic development," the vice president said.

He added that there has yet to be a natural alternative energy source to oil palm as a supporting factor in economic development.

"In addition, demand for oil palm and its derivative products continues to increase in line with the pace of economic development and population growth," Vice President Boediono said.

Therefore, he said, the management of the oil palm industry should be improved so that optimal advantages would be derived.

"It has been said that 40 percent of the existing 7.8 million hectares of oil palm plantations belong to ordinary people, and therefore it can give great advantage not only to the farmers but also to the improvement of oil palm industry as a whole," the vice president said.

At the conference themed "Oil Palm Industry Transformation," the participants will discuss the progress in research work in palm oil producing countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Latin America, and Africa.

Besides, the conferees will also discuss data and facts about the impact of green house gas emissions on the oil palm industry.

The international oil palm conference which is to last until Thursday, June 3, 2010, is participated in by around 1,000 representatives from 23 countries.

Besides opening an exhibition and the international oil palm conference, the vice president is also scheduled to attend a gathering with students of senior high school SMAN-1 Teladan in Yogyakarta.(*)