This was stated by the Minister for Industries and Production Mir Hazar Khan Bijarani while talking to media at the 2nd Malaysia- Pakistan Palm Oil Trade Fair and Seminar (POTS) 2011 at a local hotel on Tuesday.

He said that Malaysia will help Pakistan to further strengthen its auto vendors industry.

The Minister said that Pakistan was working hard to promote local production of palm oil and set up oil palm extraction in the country.

He pointed out that plantation of palm oil plants have already started in Thatta which is ideal for its production and efforts are on to set up extraction plant.

Bijarani pointed out that the government wanted to cut dependence of palm oil import to reduce burden on national budget and also to create a balance of trade between Pakistan and Malaysia.

He said Pakistan was currently exporting rice, textiles and vegetable and fruits to Malaysia.

Minister of Plantation Industries and Commodities of Malaysia Bernard Dompok said that southern Pakistan has the suitable climate for palm oil plantation and his country was helping Pakistan in this regard.

He said that Malaysia was exporting 2.2 million tons of palm oil to Pakistan per annum, besides raw material for rubber and paper production.

He said palm oil was the most competitive oil in the world and its global demand is also increasing by the passage of time.

Palm oil is grown over 100,000 million hectares producing 17.2 million tons of palm oil. Of which 15 million tons is exported annually, he added.

Dompok pointed out that Malaysia is working hard to double palm oil production by increasing productivity.