Chief of the Indonesian Employers Association (APINDO) Hariyadi Sukamdani sought consistent support from the government and the country over palm oil, specifically regarding policies that are established.

“Ideally, a policy should not distort the market. We learnt from what happened with the cooking oil dynamics,” Sukamdani noted in a press conference at the Indonesian Palm Oil Conference (IPOC) in Bali, as cited in a statement received here Thursday.

He expects the government to be more thorough in its process in establishing policies regarding the palm oil industry. As a global trading commodity, fluctuations in palm oil prices are fully determined by supply and demand in the market, he stated.

“Learning from the price fluctuations and supply of cooking oil earlier this year, let us not let other countries get the benefit because when the price of palm oil soars, we would stop exports,” he noted.

Sukamdani then lauded the contributions of palm oil for the national economy while reiterating that such substantial contribution calls for a more cautious policy to be established.

APINDO also called on the Indonesian Palm Oil Association (GAPKI) to be more active in voicing concerns over policies that could be counterproductive to the palm oil industry.

Source: Antara News