The Malaysian government will use the slogan "palm oil is a gift from God" to try to counter international criticism, which links that widely used commodity to the destruction of natural habitats.
In his speech to Parliament today, Wednesday, the Minister of Primary Industries and Commodities, Khair al-Din Aman Razali, explained that this comes in response to "the demands of European pressure groups that want to increase their export of soy oil."
There are differences between Malaysia and Indonesia, on the one hand, which account for between 80 percent and 90 percent of global palm oil production, and the European Union, on the other, over European plans to reduce the use of palm oil.
Malaysia plans to file a WTO case against the European Union, the government said on Monday.