Malaysia aims to resolve palm oil spat with India soon
Kuala Lumpur
MALAYSIA has set itself a target of a month within which to resolve its trade dispute with India over palm oil. The deadline follows this week's swearing-in of a new Malaysian cabinet after Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin took office last month.
Commodities Minister Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali told reporters on Wednesday: "One of the first moves for the new government is to rebuild the relationship with India, especially for the palm oil issue."
India, the biggest buyer of Malaysian palm oil for five years, put curbs in January on purchases, in retaliation for then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad's criticism of its policy on the Himalayan region of Kashmir and a new citizenship law.
Mr Mohd Khairuddin said he wanted to send a delegation to India as soon as possible. "We will put this on the ministry's first agenda," he said. "I set a timeframe of a month."
After India's January curbs on imports of refined palm oil from Malaysia, traders had also held off on buying its crude palm oil. Malaysia's exports to India dropped 54 per cent last month from January, data showed this week. REUTERS
A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU
Asean Business
Business insights centering on South-east Asia's fast-growing economies.
BT is now on Telegram!
For daily updates on weekdays and specially selected content for the weekend. Subscribe to t.me/BizTimes
Energy & Commodities
Glencore Group nears deal for Shell’s Singapore oil refinery
Opec+ may need to tackle oil capacity conundrum next month
Gold flat ahead of US payrolls data, set for second weekly drop
Oil settles near 7-week lows, focus shifts to economy
Exxon-Pioneer deal gets green light from US FTC, Pioneer exec barred from board
Shell maintains pace of buybacks as profit beats estimates