Petaling Jaya – The Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC) recently organised the first Trade and Networking Visit for 2023 to Almaty, Kazakhstan, and Tashkent, Uzbekistan. The visit focussed on adding value to the Malaysian palm oil industry, whereby MPOC paved the way for the industry members to explore new avenues for expansion and to increase the uptake of palm oil in the region. Eleven members of the industry from seven Malaysian palm oil companies participated in this Trade and Networking Visit.

MPOC led the delegation on two factory visits in Almaty and four in Tashkent. Industry meetings were arranged by MPOC to connect the current and potential buyers of Malaysian palm oil in Almaty and Tashkent. These series of meetings successfully addressed the market potential, challenges, as well as proposed solutions for the Malaysian palm oil industry players to effectively serve the Central Asian market.

The highlight of the Trade and Networking Visit to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan was the tailored Business Matching (BizMatch) sessions by MPOC. Seventeen companies from Kazakhstan and 38 companies from Uzbekistan participated in the sessions, resulting in a potential sales of Malaysian palm oil and palm oil-based products amounting to USD15 million.

The MPOC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Ms. Belvinder Sron said, “Central Asia is a very promising market with a high demand for vegetable oils. Uzbekistan is the largest market in terms of the sizes of the economy and population. Kazakhstan is the second largest market in this region, while Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan collectively have the potential to import approximately 100,000 tonnes of palm oil and palm oil-based products every year. In 2022, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan imported RM160 million and RM211 million worth of Malaysian palm oil and palm products, respectively.”

On industry engagement, Ms. Belvinder commented; “we are enthusiastic to tap into the potential to expand the market for sustainable Malaysian palm oil.”

MPOC will continue to serve the Malaysian palm oil industry with more of such programmes in high value markets, “she added.