The Jakarta Post, 21 November 2018
The Indonesian government is organizing a course for European scholars, environmentalists, and consultants to establish common understanding about the country’s palm oil industry amid its negative perception.
Over the course of this week, 15 participants from 10 European countries and Australia will attend a series of workshops on policies, facts, and discoveries related to the palm oil industry in Indonesia, organized by the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB) in Bogor, West Java. The participants will also make field visits in Jambi to observe how the palm oil industry conducts its business and meet smallholder oil palm farmers.
Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP) Executive Director Dono Boestami said the course was very important to address misunderstandings regarding palm oil. He said palm oil played a significant role for Indonesia as one of the most labor-intensive industries, which contributed more than Rp243 trillion ($16.6 billion) to the economy in 2017, much more than oil and gas or tourism.