Wilmar 'devoting a lot' of resources to sustainability

The end-2015 deadline for Wilmar International's suppliers to comply with its new sustainability policy is ambitious, its CEO and chairman Kuok Khoon Hong conceded, but can be achieved if Wilmar has the support of "other big stakeholders".

"There will no doubt be challenges but we are devoting a lot of resources and building a large team to meet our commitments against the timelines we have set out," said Mr Kuok in the group's sustainability report released on Wednesday.

The largest vertically integrated palm oil group in the world announced in December last year a "no deforestation, no peat and no exploitation" policy, which applied to not just its own plantations but those of its suppliers.