JAKARTA, Aug 27 (Bernama) — Indonesia as the world’s biggest oil palm producing country, will strive to become a world oil palm reference, Antara news agency reported.
Director of the Oil Palm Research Center (PPKS) Witjaksana Darmosarkoro said here Wednesday that the oil palm estates in Indonesia have reached a total of 7 million hectares and a production of 18 million tonnes per year.
“With such large plantations and high output, it is only reasonable that Indonesia becomes a main reference in trade, technology and downstream industries of the world,” he said at the introduction of 2010 International Oil Palm Conference (IOPC).
The event will be held on June 1-3, 2010 in Yogyakarta, bearing a theme “Transformation of the Oil Palm Industry”.
Witjaksana said one effort to make Indonesia a world oil palm development reference would be like holding international conferences like the IOPC.
He said the conference to be held next year, would be the fourth of its kind, while the earlier ones were held respectively in 1998, 2002 and 2006.
“The conferences were held for collection the results of research in the oil palm sector which would eventually be elaborated including the direction of the outcomes of the research work,” he said.
The next conference will be attended by delegations from 15 countries and 700 participants, including 80 oil palm companies, domestic and overseas.
In the course of the conference, an exhibition of oil palm products will also be held with 133 participants.
The forum will also invite oil palm experts and institutions from countries like Indonesia, Malaysia, Africa, Europe, South America and Asia.
The topics of discussion will include technology of the oil palm industry, genetical engineering, network culture technology, biofuel production, and palm oil price tendencies.
With regard to issues regarding the environment which had seriously hit the oil palm industry, Witjaksana said Indonesia will prove that oil palms also have the potential to change climate changes.
Source : BERNAMA
