YB Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Mohd Akin, Deputy Minister of Primary Industries Malaysia, officiated the 1st Malaysia-Saudi Arabia Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS) on behalf of YB Teresa Kok, Minister of Primary Industries Malaysia at Jeddah Hilton Hotel. Themed “Malaysian Palm Oil: Steering the Consumer Towards Healthy Living”, this event is part of Malaysia’s effort to increase the usage of palm oil and its applications in this fast-growing market and to share the latest developments in the areas of nutrition, food applications and market dynamics.

Speakers at the seminar are experts in the field of oils and fats from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Turkey, Egypt and the USA. The papers cover topics on the technical aspects of oils and fats pertinent to the Saudi market, as well as predicting the market movements in the immediate future.

Seri Shamsul Iskandar recognized the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as one of the key economic powers in the Middle East and Malaysia’s important trading partner. Both countries have a long-established relationship, which foster mostly through frequent visits of Malaysians for Hajj and Umrah, as well as other interests in businesses. “Currently, Saudi Arabia is the second largest partner for Malaysia in the Middle East and business partnerships have emerged into construction, halal development, aerospace and hajj services,” he said.

According to Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar, the bilateral trade of Saudi Arabia and Malaysia in 2018 was valued at US$5.38 billion. Palm oil and palm-based products, electrical & electronics, machinery, equipment and processed food are among Malaysia’s exports to Saudi Arabia and in return, Saudi Arabia exports mineral fuels and oils, nuts, plastics, organic chemicals, aluminum, soaps and candles, copper, machinery and dried edible fruits to Malaysia. “Malaysian Palm oil and palm-based products imported by Saudi Arabia in 2018 amounted to 570,870 tons which is valued at $301.4 million. This accounted for almost two percent of Malaysia’s total export of palm oil and palm-based product.” he added.

Iskandar said Malaysia sees Saudi Arabia as an important market for palm oil and palm oil products and we believe that this market has a lot of potential for further growth. “Hosting the first POTS of 2019 in Jeddah is a testament of the fact that Malaysia is fully committed in this market and we hope that this event will provide a platform for attracting new entrepreneurs while invigorating the existing partnerships,” she said.

Moreover, Iskandar said in line with the Saudi National Transformation 2020, Malaysia would like to join hands with Saudi Arabia to explore areas for further cooperation and rejuvenate our business linkages in further downstream palm oil products and derivatives, such as oleochemicals, pharmaceuticals, processed foods, specialty products and even consumer brands. Cooperation in the palm oil supply chain, such as storage and bulking, could also enhance the trade between our two countries. He encouraged all participants to make the most of this event to interact and explore possibilities of joint investments which will enhance their business entity.

Malaysia-Saudi POTS is the 57th of its series since its introduction in 2006. This event is organized in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the 1st time to address the oils and fats trade. Malaysia-Saudi POTS 2019 is organized jointly by Malaysian Palm Oil Council (MPOC), Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This event offers an important platform for the Malaysian palm oil industry to conduct quality discussions and share the latest news, developments and updates in the palm oil industry with their