EU’s palm oil curbs could affect Malaysia’s fighter jet deal
EU’s palm oil curbs could affect Malaysia’s fighter jet deal with France
Malaysia, the world’s second biggest producer of palm oil, said on March 8 that the European Union (EU)’s decision to curb imports of this product could prompt the country to reconsider its plan to buy France’s fighter jets.
Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia, the world’s second biggestproducer of palm oil, said on March 8 that the European Union (EU)’s decisionto curb imports of this product could prompt the country to reconsider its planto buy France’s fighter jets.
France’s Rafale jets, built by Dassault Aviation, had untilrecently been seen as the top choice of Malaysia as the country planned to buy 18new fighter planes in a deal potentiallyworth over 2 billion USD - one of Asia’s biggest fighter jet deals.
However, negotiations on the deal hit a snag after Europeanlawmakers pushed to stop using palm oil in producing fuels for vehicles.
Speaking at a recent press conference, Malaysian Defence Minister HishammuddinHussein said the Rafale jets are competing with fighter planes produced by the UK,which has left the EU.
Hussein’s statement raised hopes for the UK’s BAE Systems whichhas been on a consistent and public campaign for nearly a decade to win theMalaysia contract.
In April last year, the European Parliament approved a resolution,which stressed that palm oil imported to the EU should be certified to meet standardsrelated to environmental sustainability.
The EU’s decision could cause a loss of about 500 million USD forMalaysia’s annual palm oil turnover.-VNA
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Rafale jet. (Source: dassault-aviation) 
