Zubair Qureshi
The Embassy of the Republic of Indonesia in Islamabad in collaboration with COMSTECH jointly organized the international seminar on “Sustainability of Palm Oil Industry and its Derivative Products” at COMSTECH auditorium on Tuesday.
The international seminar aimed at raising awareness of the sustainability of the palm oil from Indonesia to the Pakistani public and highlighting the fact that palm oil and its derivative products were not harmful to the health rather it was good for consumption and had healthy ingredients.
Indonesian Chargé D’Affaires (CDA), Rahmat Hindiarta underlined the importance of palm oil for Indonesia as it contributed to 4.5 percent to the country’s GDP, which absorbed more than 17 million direct and indirect workers.
Given its significance, the Government of Indonesia successfully improved the approaches on palm oil production to be more eco-and-labour-friendly.
“Please keep up with the Indonesian palm oil in our bilateral trade relations, and let us make it as milestone to improve more trade volumes between the two countries,” said the Indonesian acting ambassador inviting the Pakistani business community to participate Trade Expo Indonesia 2024 this October.
Earlier, in his welcome address, COMSTECH Adviser Prof Dr Syed Khurshid Hasnain said COMSTECH was committed to supporting the natural products coming from the OIC member countries and expected more applied research on more application of the natural products for the industrial purposes that could benefits to the OIC member countries. He believed that science and technology should be applicable and give economic benefits to the people.
The seminar also detailed the minerals contained in palm oil and termed them beneficial for the industry, compared with another vegetable oils and could be used for raw material of cosmetics, daily appliances, pharmaceuticals, paints, plastics and even biofuel. Palm oil is also considered very efficient in cost since it provides a high yield at a very affordable cost.
The event showcased the scientific and academic research about the health benefits for the palm oil consumers and discloses the palm oil from Indonesia as having sustainable farming standards by putting human rights, deforestation, and environment as the core of the production process, and even contributes to the fulfillment of the Sustainable Development Goals.
Those who also spoke on the occasion and attended the event included Prof. Dedi Budiman Hakim, Bogor Agricultural Institute; Mr. Rashed Jan Muhammad, President BQATI; Prof. Muhammad Asim Shabir, University of Faisalabad; Mr. Djono Albar Burhan, Indonesia Palm Oil Association; Dr. Humaira Fatima, Quaid-e-Azam University; and Mr. Shahid Pervez, Secretary General of PVMA. It is pertinent to mention here that the embassy of Indonesia and COMSTECH had a successful history of collaboration in advancing science and technology among the OIC member countries.
