KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Plantation and Commodities, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has attended a briefing on the country’s palm oil sector and the work of the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) at the board’s headquarters.

The board’s director-general, Datuk Ahmad Parveez Ghulam Kadir and MPOB researchers also took the opportunity to brief Fadillah on MPOB’s role in leading the oil palm industry and the palm-based breakthrough technologies produced by MPOB.

In a statement today, MPOB said the briefing session was also attended by Plantation and Commodities Deputy Minister, Datuk Siti Aminah Aching, Malaysian Palm Oil Council chief executive officer (CEO) Wan Aishah Wan Hamid, Malaysian Palm Oil Certification Council CEO Datuk Daud Amatzin and Malaysian Palm Oil Green Conservation Foundation general manager Zamakhshari Muhamad, among others.

Established on May 1, 2000, the MPOB is a government agency responsible for the development of the oil palm industry in Malaysia and its primary role is to promote and develop national objectives, policies and priorities for the well-being of the Malaysian oil palm industry.

To drive the industry forward, MPOB focuses on research and development along the entire value spectrum of the oil palm industry.

"We embrace a three-pronged strategy to maximise synergies between economic development, environmental stewardship and value addition to ensure that future growth is carried out within a sustainable framework,” MPOB added.

To date, MPOB has successfully developed 712 technologies covering all sectors in the oil palm industry, including innovations in the production of food and non-food products to be adopted and commercialised.

About 32.7 per cent of these technologies have been commercialised and adopted by local industries and entrepreneurs. — Bernama