Vice President Calls on International Community to End Discrimination Against Palm Oil

Vice President Jusuf Kalla has called on international community to stand united in fighting discrimination against palm oil and other trade commodities. Discrimination against palm oil hampers ability to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Kalla addressed the issue in a speech during the Leaders Roundtable Belt and Road Forum (BRF) II in Beijing, which was held with the theme “Promoting Green and Sustainable Development to Implement The UN 2030 Agenda”. He deemed it necessary to address the issue as the European Union (EU) continues its discriminatory campaign against palm oil which is Indonesia’s strategic commodity. Discrimination against palm oil has hampered Indonesia’s ability to achieve the SDGs. The EU has ignored any accurate data telling that palm oil is an eco-friendly strategic commodity. “Regrettably, the EU ignored the data and continues its discriminatory campaign which has been hampering Indonesia’s effort to achieve the SDGs. For that reason, we have to fight against the discrimination,” Kalla said in the forum attended by 40 head of states, included China President Xi Jinping who hosted and initiated the BRF. According to Kalla, no country is able to achieve SDGs alone without synergy and cooperation with other countries such as cooperation under BRF. “Cooperation must be `national-driven`, not ‘donor-driven’ or `loan-giver driven’.` The cooperation should be inclusive and in that case Belt and Road Initiative may bring benefits to all countries. Kalla also called on the private sector to involve in the cooperation. “Under this cooperation, we will not count on government loans to raise funds for projects.” Kalla also stressed that the most important thing in the mutual cooperation through BRF is the collective leadership and responsible sharing rather than individual goals. “We can’t implement ‘Me First Policy’ to achieve the SDGs. This is why we have to uphold multilateral principles. The world will see whether Belt and Road cooperation can contribute prosperity to all.” At the same forum, the Vice President also reminded all participants the importance of environmental conservation which is an integral part of the SDGs.  *** (Source: Antara)