Call for higher palm oil promo spend?

FYI some comparative stats on Malaysia palm oil versus US agriculture promotional spending........ "The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in promoting American agriculture produce spends close to 1% of its total exports. In 2013, USDA data recorded USD 144 billion in export sales with USD1.3 billion spent on promotional marketing of such exports. If we use the USDA spend rate of 1% as a guide, the Ministry should spend about RM800 million a year to defend and promote palm oil, not a mere RM24.5 million. As such, we urge the Ministry to increase its spending to a more reasonable amount of RM200 million a year to turnaround and safeguard the future of this very important industry...."

Newslinks:

PKR rep cries foul over oil palm budget slash BY EILEEN NG Published: 18 November 2014
"Wong Chen (PKR-Kelana Jaya) said the Ministry of Plantation Industries and Commodities cut the budget for the promotion and defence of the commodity by 40%, from RM16 million this year to RM10 million next year. Also, the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB)'s budget also saw a decrease from RM25 million this year to RM14.5 million in 2015.... Wong said on an overall level, the ministry only allocated a "mere" RM24.5 million to defend and promote oil palm. "Palm oil is a RM80 billion export industry. To spend a mere RM24.5 million to defend and promote palm oil is a joke. RM24.5 million represents a mere 0.03% of total exports of palm oil," he said at a press conference in parliament today...." http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/pkr-rep-cries-foul-over-oil-palm-budget-slash#sthash.wltkdmRc.dpuf

Defend national palm oil, increase budget allocation, urge Pakatan MPs BY PATHMA SUBRAMANIAMNovember 18, 2014; http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/defend-national-palm-oil-increase-budget-allocation-urge-pakatan-mps#sthash.UYsszKKU.dpuf

Press conference video here: http://www.kinitv.com/video/12888O8