Accra:Malaysia's palm oil industry is tasked with finding a balance between sustainability and long-term profitability, while ensuring that rising compliance costs do not disproportionately affect smallholders, according to Malaysian Palm Oil Association (MPOA) CEO Roslin Azmy Hassan.
According to BERNAMA News Agency, Roslin emphasized the mutual dependence of sustainability and profitability, noting that sustainable practices must make economic sense for producers. He conveyed these points during a seminar titled 'Plantation 360 Mobilising Private Capital for More and Better Jobs,' which was co-organized by the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries and the World Bank Group's EDSI 6, on the sidelines of the 2026 IMF and World Bank Group Annual Meetings.
Roslin highlighted the importance of certification, traceability, greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity protection, and supply chain due diligence for maintaining market access and consumer confidence. However, he warned that increased compliance costs could burden producers without necessarily enhancing productivity or economic value.
Five priorities were outlined by Roslin for balancing sustainability and economic performance boosting productivity through replanting aging oil palm trees, utilizing better planting materials, improving agronomic practices, mechanization, and the adoption of digital technology, rather than expanding cultivated land. He stressed the need for greater support for Malaysia's 450,000 smallholders, who account for nearly one-third of the country's planted area, due to their limited access to finance, technology, and manpower.
Roslin called for treating sustainability as an investment, suggesting funding for renewable energy, methane capture, biomass utilization, digitalization, and climate adaptation to reduce emissions while improving efficiency and profitability. He advocated for generating greater value from every tonne of palm oil through downstream products like oleochemicals, renewable energy, biogas, and biofertilizers, and turning agricultural waste into additional revenue streams.
He also underlined the need for stronger cooperation across the supply chain to ensure sustainability standards deliver credible environmental and social outcomes while acknowledging the challenges faced by producing countries. Roslin reiterated the necessity of achieving sustainability, profitability, and growth simultaneously, emphasizing that all three are essential.
Malaysia is the world's second-largest palm oil producer after Indonesia, contributing approximately 24-26% of global crude palm oil production, with about 5.6-5.8 million hectares dedicated to oil palm cultivation.