The Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry has forecast crude palm oil (CPO) production this year to increase by about 3% to 19.7 million tonnes from 19.14 million tonnes last year. Minister Datuk Dr Mohd Khairuddin Aman Razali (pic) said this is based on the expected expansion of mature oil palm plantation areas, as well as the effects of dry weather which has affected the production of fresh bunches and subsequent CPO production. “With the recovery in world trade, export growth is projected to continue to be encouraging, hence, the plantation and commodity sectors will leverage the permission given by the government to the plantation and commodity sectors to operate as usual during the movement control order and Emergency periods, ” he said in a statement. The minister said the agri-commodity sector’s export revenue contributed RM133.2bil or 15.1% of the country’s total export revenue as of November 2020, an increase of 13.6% compared with RM117.2bil in the same period a year before. He said palm oil-based products constituted the biggest contributor at 48.6 with the value increased 4.8% to RM64.8bil. Mohd Khairuddin said his ministry also fully-supported initiative four of the Malaysian Economic and Rakyat Protection (Permai) assistance package which is stepping up testing of employees.“The ministry will ensure agri-commodity industry players tighten their standard operating procedures, improve accommodation and movement control of foreign workers, as well as increase screening to support efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19. “The ministry will also ensure the Workers’ Minimum Standards of Housing and Amenities Act (Amendment) 2019 (Act 446) is complied with as failure to do so can contribute to the spread of Covid-19, ” he said.