Pakistan Edible Oil Refiners Association (PEORA) and Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) jointly organized today a Seminar on the subject of “PALM OIL REFINING COMPETENCY”.
Vice Admiral Muhammad Shafi HI (M), Chairman, Port Qasim was the Chief Guest. H.E. Dato Ahmad Anwar Bin Adnan, High Commissioner of Malaysia in Pakistan, also graced the occasion.
Delegation from Malaysia Palm Oil Board consists of Dr. Ahmad Khushairi Din, Deputy Director General (R&D), Mr. Mokmin Bahari, Head of Unit Food Safety and Code of Practices and the Regional Manager of MPOB in Karachi Mr. Farius Hidzir. The Seminar was attended by huge number of distinguish guests from the Palm Oil Refining Industry and Ghee Industry of Pakistan.
The Speakers emphasized that there are certain measures to be taken to make the Palm Oil Refining Industry more viable in Pakistan as this sector can play a vital role in saving considerable valuable foreign exchange for the Country.
Vice Chairman PEORA, Mr. Rasheed Janmohammed in his presentation pointed out the obstacles in the way of smooth and viable operation of the Refineries in Pakistan and informed the participants that the pertinent areas are anomaly in duty structure, issuance of timely quota of CPO export from Malaysia and uninterrupted supply of Crude Palm Oil to Pakistan.
He explained that Refining Industry of Palm Oil in Pakistan have ample capacity, are not running on optimum level due to above reasons and if the problems are addressed on the concerned levels same will not only help the Refining Industries in Pakistan to run smoothly but will ultimately save a considerable foreign exchange for the Country.
Pakistan is presently importing about 2.00 Million tons of Palm Oil Products and about 1.00 Million tons of Oil Seeds to cater Country’s demand which is equivalent to the value of US$ 3.00 billion. In this connection he further pointed out that there is no import duty on Crude Palm Oil in the neighboring countries like India and Bangladesh which has promoted their local refining industries.
Chairman, PQA during his address advised that they have sufficient land for establishment of Industries at Port Qasim and assured that Port Qasim Authority will provide all resources available to the Investors who are already running / have proposed projects at Port Qasim.
The Deputy Director General, MPOB also addressed the audience and has assured that they will endeavor to provide their specialized expertise for further benefit of Edible Oil Refining Industry in Pakistan and for the betterment of trade between the two countries.
Their present delegation will visit almost all the Palm Oil Refineries based in Karachi from tomorrow onwards to share the technical aspects of refining industry and provide all possible cooperation from their side.
Other Papers were presented by Dr. Ahmad Khushairi Din, Deputy Director General (R&D) MPOB on ‘An update on Malaysian Palm Oil Industry’, Dr. Tufail Sherazi, Professor, National Centre of Excellence in Analytical Chemistry, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan on ‘Quality aspects of Palm Oil Refining’, Mr. Mokmin Bahari, Head of Unit Food Safety and Code of Practices, MPPOB on ‘Palm Oil Refining’ and Mr. Farius Hidzir, Regional Manager, MPOB, Karachi on Crude Palm Oil Supply.
The Seminar emphasized that government may review their duty structure not only to make the Refineries viable but also to reduce the cost of Ghee and Cooking Oil which will ultimately benefit the common man.
