Palm oil: A business opportunity for Latin American countries.
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Palm oil and the potential of its phytonutrients constitute a business opportunity for Latin American countries, especially Colombia, which is preparing itself for a post-conflict scenario, specialists participating in a conference here on the sector’s prospects agreed on Monday.
Within the framework of the 1st EFE Palm Industry Forum in Bogota, scientists and businessmen emphasized the opportunities afforded by this product in areas such as nutrition, cosmetics and the pharmaceutical industry, among others.
The president of the National Federation of Oil Palm Growers of Colombia, or Fedepalma, Jens Mesa Dishington, said that the sector’s agroindustrial development potential is “immense” now that Colombia “is in the negotiation phase to terminate a conflict” with the FARC guerrilla group.
Mesa said that in Colombia, the world’s fourth-largest palm oil producer and the largest in the Americas, there are already some 500,000 hectares (1.25 million acres) of cropland producing some 1.3 million tons of palm oil in more than 120 municipalities.