Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities Malaysia, YB Datuk Hajah Zuraida Kamaruddin, has concluded her Economic and Agricommodities Promotion Mission to Egypt and Qatar from 16 April 2020 to 20th April 2020. During the mission, she has taken the opportunity to meet up with her counterparts from both countries; chaired the Roundtable Meeting with Egyptian and Qataris Agricommodities Players, meeting up with the Local Investment Authorities, Academicians, and the Local Women Entrepreneurs and Diaspora.
Among the Ministers and foreign dignitaries who met up with YB Datuk, Zuraida Kamaruddin are H.E. Mrs. Navine Gamea- Ministry of Trade and Industry of Egypt; H.E. Minister Dr. Ali El Moselhy- Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade of Egypt; H.E. Dr. Abdullah Bin Abdulazizi Bin Turky Al Subaie- Ministry of Municipality, State of Qatar; H.E. Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Qassim Al-Abdullah Al-Thani- Minister of Commerce and Industry of Qatar; H.E. Dr. Sherif el Gabaly, member of Egyptian Parliament and Chairman of Egyptian Malaysian Business Council. She also had a meeting with Counselor Mohamed Abdel Wahab- CEO of General Investment and Free Zones of Egypt, and Professor Dr. Hanafy Hashim, Head of Food Science & Technology, as well as Professor Dr. Gamel Abdrabuh, Dean of Faculty of Agriculture, Universiti Al Azhar.
As part of MPIC’s initiatives in promoting Malaysian agricommodity products, the round table discussions will bridge the trade promotional activities, business cooperation, and information exchange between governments and key players from within the industry, particularly for palm oil, rubber, and timber products.
The palm oil price has been at the forefront of edible oil news since the pandemic started in 2020 and due to recent ongoing conflict in Europe. The current price surge is driven by the outlook for the supply of substitute vegetable oils due to uncertainty over sunflower seed oil from Ukraine and Russia. Tight supply from the producing countries has also impacted the global palm oil price.
Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) anticipated crude palm oil (CPO) production to improve by 4.9% to 19 million tonnes this year, from 18.12 million tonnes in 2021, resulting in palm oil stocks increasing 21.1% to 1.95 million tonnes, from 1.61 million tonnes in 2021. This is excellent news to the industry players and market onlookers. It shows Malaysia is prepared to meet the encouraging demand for palm oil from the market, including from Egypt and Qatar. A few promising ideas, such as including Malaysia Palm Oil in the Egyptian Food Subsidy Scheme and exploring the private sectors, are further the applications of the rubberized road in Qatar. Further discussion is being conducted, and Malaysia is hopeful that the initiatives will benefit all involved parties.
The Hon. Minister has conducted missions to several countries beginning the year 2022 to increase exports of Malaysian commodities, especially palm oil. The countries visited are Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Egypt, and Qatar. Malaysian companies also took part in these Ministerial missions to strengthen and re-establish bilateral relations. Among the achievements are proposals to establish joint venture partnerships in India and Pakistan. There were also proposals from Qatar and Egypt to invest with Malaysian companies to set up production facilities in Malaysia. This is seen as a strategic move that will accelerate the commodities export to the regions.
