Indonesian Economic Diplomacy toward Palm Oil: Indonesia’s Respond to the EU Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforest (2016/2222(INI))

Abstract

Palm Oil becomes one of Indonesian major trade commodity, besides oil and gas. It has comparable quality with palm oil from Malaysia, Netherland, Papua New Guinea, and Guatemala. Therefore, an accessible and good prospect of the global market is essential for the sustainability of Indonesian palm oil production and marketing. European Union (EU) is a major importer of Indonesian palm oil because the consumption of palm oil among EU member countries is considered high. However, in the past few years, there were some international reports, including European media, that Indonesian palm oil is environmentally unfriendly, because the operation of palm oil plantation leads to deforestation and the greenhouse emission issue, abandoning the local people's, rights and decreasing the population of orangutan and other animals. EU then produced EU Resolution on Palm Oil and Deforestation of Rainforest (2016/2222(INI)) in 2017 to ban the import of Indonesian palm oil. Furthermore, different views among both sides and competition over similar products from Europe contribute to Indonesian efforts to conduct economic diplomacy, to protect the Indonesian economy.