LONDON, June 18 (NNN-Bernama) — European countries that sell various goods to Malaysia can be asked to stop tarnishing the image of palm oil, says Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“We can do so but whether they will reciprocate or not that’s another thing.
“This can be done and there are more supply from Europe that we can use to ask them to stop tarnishing palm oil,” he told a press conference here on Monday before concluding a three-day working visit to the United Kingdom.
Dr Mahathir said this when asked by reporters on the proposed merger of Malaysian telecommunication company Axiata with Telenor from Norway, one of the countries opposing the use of palm oil.
Norway is the first country in the world to ban the use and purchase of biodiesel containing palm oil on the grounds that the oil palm cultivation leading to the destruction of natural forests.
During his working visit to the UK, Dr Mahathir was accompanied by Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah and Youth and Sports Minister Syed Saddiq Abdul Rahman.
NNN-BERNAMA