Planning Workshops for Sustainable Palm Oil Production Project

Two planning workshops of the Sustainable Palm Oil Project were held on March 18-20, 2009 in Bangkok and on March 25-26, 2009 in Krabi. More than 50 stakeholders participated. The workshops were jointly organized by GTZ and the Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE). Stakeholders from various Ministries, as well as from the private sector, farmer organizations and representatives from local authorities participated in the workshops. The workshops aimed to create a mutual understanding between all stakeholders and plan for concrete activities in 2009.

Mr. Montol Jeamchareon, Deputy Secretary General of the Office of Agricultural Economics, opened the workshop in Bangkok and stressed the importance of this project in order to improve Thailand’s palm oil industry. Both workshops planned concrete activities for 2009 and defined responsibilities. On the national level the national interpretation of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) will be finalized by the end of the year to set a framework for RSPO sustainability certification. At the provincial levels 4 pilot mills and their surrounding smallholders will be supported to develop a showcase of sustainability certification. These are promising steps taken to achieve the project’s goal (“Sustainable certified palm oil which is accepted by the European Union is available at the market”) by the end of 2011.