Malaysia hoping diplomacy with France will ease palm oil tensions

In Malaysia, the Borneo Post reports that Malaysian and French officials are set to meet to discuss palm oil in an effort to better understand the product’s opportunities and challenges. Malaysia is trying to head of implementation of the French Parliament’s ban on palm oil for biodiesel from 2020. The French Environment Ambassador is set to visit the country in order to look into the sustainability of production while the French and Malaysian Parliamentary Friendship Group as well as Malaysia-France Business Council meeting in March are expected to be opportunities for information sharing and dialogue on palm oil.