Indonesia’s vice president is in town to talk about the country’s controversial palm oil industry.
Though the discourse seems to be much more about the business side of things, increasing output and raising capital, rather than the salient issue of environmental destruction and implications in the name of palm oil.
VP Jusuf Kalla opened the 11th annual Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) in Nusa Dua yesterday.
“Oil should not only be controlled by corporations and a group of large companies. The management should be based on environment and justice,” Kalla said, as quoted by Kompas.
While the VP appears to have talked plenty about corporate power and control of the industry and mentioned the environment, again, it’s not yet clear how much he actually highlighted sustainability issues.
“The government not only wants to see palm oil exports greatly increase, but also wants a bit more foreign exchange. This is what I want to emphasize, that foreign exchange benefits the Indonesian people,” Kalla added.
Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Indonesian Palm Oil Association Joko Supriyono said that the development of Indonesia’s palm oil industry was overshadowed by a global economic slowdown and environmental issues (notably those fires you keep hearing about and peat ecosystem damage). But that doesn’t seem to stop him from wanting to grow the industry further and hopes for greater exports in 2016.
The conference is reportedly being attended by 1,126 participants from 32 countries and will run until Friday.
The agenda further includes the impact of taxes, management, and distribution of funds for crude palm oil, along with the projected pricing, production, and markets for 2016, according to Kompas.
Photo: Flickr
