From Fadzli Ramli
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, April 27 April (Bernama) — Malaysia and the European Union (EU) are now in the final stage of signing a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) as well as finalising a comprehensive partnership aimed at strengthening economic cooperation and bilateral relations.
Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the positive development is driven by the EU, which now views Southeast Asia as a strategic and important bloc following unilateral tariffs imposed by the United States and instability resulting from the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Without specifying a timeline, he said Malaysia wants to finalise the agreement as soon as possible so that it can act as a catalyst to boost trade between Malaysia and the EU.
“I also mentioned this earlier during the meeting with EU representatives,” he told Bernama and RTM after holding a bilateral meeting with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, on the sidelines of the 25th ASEAN-EU Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) here, today.
On Sept 25 last year, EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič was reported to have said that the Malaysia-EU FTA is expected to be finalised this year, with trade between Malaysia and Europe, which reached €46 billion, expected to grow rapidly once the agreement is implemented.
Mohamad said that during the meeting with Kallas, he also raised the issue of the strong anti-palm oil campaign in Europe and rejected the ongoing anti-palm oil campaigns being actively promoted in countries in the region.
He stressed that the campaign is not based on scientific evidence but is instead driven by lobbyists from competing oil industries in neighbouring countries.
“I said that it is unfair because labelling food as containing palm oil clearly violates trade ethics,” he said.
According to him, Kallas understood and agreed with the basis of Malaysia’s arguments and expressed the EU’s willingness to help address the unfair campaign.
Touching on the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), Mohamad urged the EU not to equate Malaysia’s forest sustainability standards with practices in other countries.
“More than 55 per cent of our land is still covered by tropical forests, and we do not destroy forests to plant oil palm,” he stressed.
He emphasised that the majority of Malaysia’s palm oil industry is professionally managed by large plantation companies that fully comply with the Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) standards.
In this regard, he called on the EU to conduct a detailed assessment of the sustainable management of oil palm estates in Malaysia, which are recognised as having high standards, before imposing any discriminatory measures.
Meanwhile, Mohamad said Malaysia’s current focus is on exporting processed palm oil with higher added value, rather than merely exporting crude palm oil.
He said processed palm oil is not only used as cooking oil but is also widely utilised across various downstream industries, including chocolate manufacturing.
“The European Union is a major importer of processed palm oil. Therefore, this is a profitable market for us, and that is why we must firmly counter this anti-palm oil campaign,” he said.
He added that with continuous clarification, Malaysia hopes the EU will better understand the actual practices in its palm oil industry and no longer protect anti-palm oil lobbyists who could affect international trade value.
— NNN-BERNAMA