Finance Minister Sri Mulyani has said that Indonesia should be aggressive in looking for new palm oil markets because of various problems in the traditional markets, such as negative campaigns against the commodity and the impact of the ongoing trade war.

“We should not act defensively or just wait and see,” said Sri Mulyani when speaking in a seminar on palm oil organized by the Indonesian Oil Palm Estate Fund (BPDP-KS) in Jakarta on Monday as reported by kompas.com.

“When I worked for the World Bank, I visited many countries in Africa and Latin America. They already had initiatives to develop palm oil. Many companies in Asia, particularly Malaysia, wanted to enter the palm oil business [there].”

She expressed confidence that the export potential of palm oil remained high amid current challenges, particularly in nontraditional markets.

As the largest palm oil producing country, Indonesia produced 37.8 million tons of CPO in 2017, with exports valued at US$21.25 billion, according to the Agriculture Ministry.

(read more: The Jakarta Post)