KUALA LUMPUR: The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has launched a campaign to correct bias and misinformation, and to counter anti-palm oil narratives by the West.
Its minister Datuk Zuraida Kamaruddin said the Global Movement to Champion the Goodness of Palm Oil was a digital, multimedia campaign targeted at a global audience, predominantly governments, agencies, stakeholders and media from the West.
"The concerned parties are those who have resorted to anti-palm oil narratives with a view to imposing sanctions on the commodity.
"We hope to achieve our goals with the production of an hour-long documentary; 12 explanatory short video clips, a booklet, posters and an intensive media engagement exercise," she said in a statement today.
The campaign was launched on Tuesday in conjunction with the launch of the Malaysia International Agri-commodity Expo & Summit (MIACES) by the Prime Minister.
"Besides conventional media like print publications and TV stations, the campaign will also be carried out online such as social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, MPIC's website as well as my own "Mothering" portal.
"We believe that online platforms can complement traditional media in terms of reach, speed and audience targeting," she said.
Zuraida said for many years, Malaysian palm oil has been the subject of a nefarious smear campaign from the West. The end-goal of these perpetrators who had vested interests, was to impose sanctions on the import of palm oil, Malaysia's included.
Most of the time, she said, the sanctioning was done indiscriminately, with no verification and investigation.
"This amounts to 'crop apartheid'.
"These people will try to cover up deforestation for other crops, but when it comes to palm oil, they will spin all kinds of fake allegations.
"I am hopeful that this campaign can help to correct the misconceptions and untruths associated with Malaysian palm oil. It is time Malaysia set the record straight on our golden crop and I urge all Malaysians, in the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia, to stand with us," she added.