Malaysia will join hands with Indonesia to counter anti-palm oil campaigns in Europe and the United States, a Malaysian official said on Friday.

Malaysia and Indonesia had reached a consensus on that issue and the two countries would make coordinated efforts in that respect, Malaysian Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Peter Chin Fah Kui said.

The anti-palm oil campaigns in Europe and the United States had affected the palm oil consumption there, he told reporters after the Second Joint Committee Meeting on Bilateral Cooperation on Commodities between Malaysia and Indonesia here.

Chin said that Western activists had launched a massive campaign alleging that Malaysia and Indonesia had destroyed some wildlife's natural habitat with the opening of palm oil estates.

Malaysia and Indonesia are the two leading palm oil producers and exporters in the world.

In 2006, Malaysia's palm oil exports to Europe reached 4.7 billion ringgit (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) and Europe was the second largest Malaysian palm oil buyer that year.

Source: Xinhua