KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: Malaysia, the world's biggest producer of palm oil, wants to partner with US firms to produce and market biodiesel for the automotive industry, Commodities Minister Peter Chin was quoted as saying on Tuesday.

"We are able to produce it now but we need to tie in with people here in the US willing to import it," Chin was quoted by Malaysia's official Bernama news agency as saying in Washington.

He said Malaysia wanted help to produce and market a blend of palm oil and petroleum in the United States.

Chin held talks with senior US officials at the Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture on Monday.

Malaysia has been experimenting with cars that run on palm oil-based diesel for several years but officials said they still lacked technical know-how to take the product to the market.

The government hopes to launch by June a biodiesel policy, identifying alternative energy sources that could offset a rising fuel bill.

Source:
REUTERS NEWS SERVICE
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