Ambassador of Indonesia to Pakistan, Adam Mulawarman Tugio on Friday said that palm oil supply operation from Indonesia to Pakistan would be completed by July 10, 2022.
“So far five ships have arrived in the port city of Karachi and another five will arrive by July 10 of this month,” Ambassador of Indonesia Adam Mulawarman Tugio told a state run news agency here on Friday.
The Ambassador said that in last month on the June the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mian Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif and the President of Indonesia Joko Widodo had discussed the issue of increasing the supply of palm oil to Pakistan after Indonesia lifted the ban of palm oil exports in last months of May.
He said the Indonesian government then decided to use 10 ships for oil supply in the next three weeks to meet Pakistan’s needs.
“Pakistan is a brotherly Islamic country with which Indonesia has strong economic, trade and diplomatic relations, adding, Indonesia will always continue its cooperation to meet the need for palm oil in Pakistan, Ambassador Adam said.”
Replying to a question, he said that the Indonesian government temporarily banned global palm oil exports to regulate local markets and provide subsidized palm oil to locals in the start months of May 2022.
The Ambassador said the decision was made after lengthy deliberations on food security in Indonesia and revised soon as it is part of a short-term policy that would stabilize palm oil prices in the local market.
The Ambassador said that the global consumption of palm oil worldwide was currently 70 MT, of which 33 MT was produced in Indonesia.
Similarly, Indonesia was the world’s largest exporter of palm oil, which also impacts the local Indonesian market and had to be adjusted according to its prices, he said.
Replying to another question, he said that Indonesia has lifted the global ban on palm oil export from last week of May and now palm oil supply in Pakistan would be improved.
Indonesia is the largest supplier of palm oil to Pakistan as the palm oil would now be available in the local markets, he said. In this regard, the Indonesian government was paying special attention to increase the supply of Palm oil into Pakistani markets.
He acknowledged that due to the ban on exports of palm oil, people and traders of Pakistan had faced difficulties. For that matter, the Indonesian embassy in Islamabad would fully cooperate with the local market, said the ambassador.
