Malaysia grateful to France for rejecting ‘unfair’ palm oil tax

Royal presence: Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Muhammad V and Najib accompaning Hollande as he greets a military officer during the state welcoming ceremony at Parliament square. — RAJA FAISAL HISHAN/The Star

PUTRAJAYA: Malaysia is grateful to France for not imposing unfair taxes on palm oil which could have affected the livelihoods of thousands of Malaysians, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

Najib thanked French President Francois Hollande for not agreeing to the Bill to tax Malaysian palm oil.

“That’s a huge encouragement to us,” said Najib during a joint press conference with Hollande after they held talks in Perdana Putra.

He pointed out that more than 600,000 locals depended on palm oil.

Najib said he had explained to Hollande that palm oil is developed on a sustainable basis in Malaysia.

“We also have to ensure balanced development in this country because so many people depend on palm oil as a source of livelihood.

Najib pointed out that Malaysia was also developing its own palm oil standards which it hoped could be accepted not only by France but the European Union.

Since 2012, political parties in France had attempted to impose a tax on palm oil, which would make it less competitive than domestic oils.

Hollande said his government had made sure palm oil “was treated fairly”.

“We are aware of the importance of palm oil to the Malaysian economy,” he said.

Three memoranda of understanding were signed between Malaysia and France, including a revision of an agreement in relation to the exchange and classification of information, defence cooperation and letter of intent to set a platform for Sustainable Agriculture Land­scape in South-East Asia between the French agricultural research organisation and Universiti Putra Malaysia.