VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Republic of Colombia, Priyo Iswanto was awarded Doctorate Honoris Causa (DR. HC) in Social Sciences from the University of Muhammadiyah Malang (UMM), with real work consideration in increasing cooperation between Indonesia and Colombia by issuing palm oil as an important factor in achieving the Development Goals Sustainability (SDGs Plus). Ambassador Priyo has succeeded in convincing Colombia to become the first member of the Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) outside its founders, namely Indonesia and Malaysia.

Based on the SDGs Plus of economic, social, environmental, and moral approaches in his scientific oration, Ambassador Priyo affirmed the importance of the palm oil industry in achieving SDGs no. 1 (no poverty); SDGs 2 (no hunger); SDGs 7 (clean and affordable energy), and SDGs 8 (decent work and economic development). Moreover, he also explained that the negative campaign against palm oil is immoral because in reality, palm oil has various advantages, including being more environmentally friendly compared with other vegetable oils because palm trees require more efficient land, water and fertilizers. He also proposed the importance of strengthening the CPOPC by expanding membership by other palm oil producing countries and also the need to integrate the dynamics of the palm oil industry among three regions of inter- continents, namely Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister of Indonesian Foreign Affairs Mahendra Siregar representing the leadership of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in his remarks stated that palm oil is a strategic commodity for Indonesia and Colombia and industry. It has contributed to the implementation success of a peace agreement in Colombia.