Fearing tobacco's fate, palm oil industry fights back

KUALA LUMPUR - On the morning of Feb 26, executives from a Washington consultancy presented a strategy paper to some of the most powerful officials in the Malaysian palm oil industry.

But last year, Malaysia launched a global public relations and lobbying offensive to protect the reputation of its key export, particularly in Europe. Reuters has pieced together a picture of the sweeping effort from internal public relations strategy documents as well as interviews with dozens of palm oil industry participants.

The publicity campaign aimed at critics of palm oil has been coordinated by the Malaysian Palm Oil Council , a state agency responsible for promoting palm oil and looking for trade opportunities for the product. At least three PR firms hired by MPOC are running these campaigns, copies of their proposals seen by Reuters show. MPOC approved all their proposals, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

MPOC has not spoken publicly about the campaign. It told Reuters that it uses various methods, including engagement of PR agencies and advisory firms, to pursue its objectives, but for competitive and client confidentiality reasons, it would not disclose details. REASONING WON'T WORK According to documents reviewed by Reuters, DCI's campaign pitch to MPOC this year sought a budget of over US$1 million.It also approved a 2019 budget of around US$120,000 for Invoke and US$200,000 for Unitas, the sources said.Reuters has seen a copy of an eight-page public affairs proposal distributed by DCI at the Feb 26 meeting with at least a dozen officials from MPOC, the Malaysian ministry of primary industries and palm oil companies.

"These are weak spots for EU NGOs and politicians - they fear accusations of neo-colonialism and discrimination," the proposal said.

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