• Home
  • About RSIS
    • Introduction
    • Building the Foundations
    • Welcome Message
    • Board of Governors
    • Staff Profiles
      • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
      • Dean’s Office
      • Management
      • Distinguished Fellows
      • Faculty and Research
      • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
      • Visiting Fellows
      • Adjunct Fellows
      • Administrative Staff
    • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
    • RSIS Endowment Fund
    • Endowed Professorships
    • Career Opportunities
    • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
    • Research Centres
      • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
      • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
      • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
      • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
      • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
    • Research Programmes
      • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
      • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
    • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
    • [email protected] Newsletter
    • Other Research
      • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
    • Graduate Programmes Office
    • Overview
    • MSc (Asian Studies)
    • MSc (International Political Economy)
    • MSc (International Relations)
    • MSc (Strategic Studies)
    • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
    • PhD Programme
    • Exchange Partners and Programmes
    • How to Apply
    • Financial Assistance
    • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
    • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
    • Alumni
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
    • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
    • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
    • SRP Executive Programme
    • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
    • RSIS Publications
      • Annual Reviews
      • Books
      • Bulletins and Newsletters
      • Commentaries
      • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
      • Commemorative / Event Reports
      • IDSS Paper
      • Interreligious Relations
      • Monographs
      • NTS Insight
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • RSIS Publications for the Year
    • Glossary of Abbreviations
    • External Publications
      • Authored Books
      • Journal Articles
      • Edited Books
      • Chapters in Edited Books
      • Policy Reports
      • Working Papers
      • Op-Eds
      • External Publications for the Year
    • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
    • Great Powers
    • Sustainable Security
    • Other Resource Pages
    • Media Highlights
    • News Releases
    • Speeches
    • Vidcast Channel
    • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsis.sg
Linkedin
instagram instagram rsis.sg
RSS
  • Home
  • About RSIS
      • Introduction
      • Building the Foundations
      • Welcome Message
      • Board of Governors
      • Staff Profiles
        • Executive Deputy Chairman’s Office
        • Dean’s Office
        • Management
        • Distinguished Fellows
        • Faculty and Research
        • Associate Research Fellows, Senior Analysts and Research Analysts
        • Visiting Fellows
        • Adjunct Fellows
        • Administrative Staff
      • Honours and Awards for RSIS Staff and Students
      • RSIS Endowment Fund
      • Endowed Professorships
      • Career Opportunities
      • Getting to RSIS
  • Research
      • Research Centres
        • Centre for Multilateralism Studies (CMS)
        • Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies (NTS Centre)
        • Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS)
        • Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies (IDSS)
        • International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research (ICPVTR)
      • Research Programmes
        • National Security Studies Programme (NSSP)
        • Studies in Inter-Religious Relations in Plural Societies (SRP) Programme
      • Future Issues and Technology Cluster
      • [email protected] Newsletter
      • Other Research
        • Science and Technology Studies Programme (STSP) (2017-2020)
  • Graduate Education
      • Graduate Programmes Office
      • Overview
      • MSc (Asian Studies)
      • MSc (International Political Economy)
      • MSc (International Relations)
      • MSc (Strategic Studies)
      • NTU-Warwick Double Masters Programme
      • PhD Programme
      • Exchange Partners and Programmes
      • How to Apply
      • Financial Assistance
      • Meet the Admissions Team: Information Sessions and other events
      • RSIS Alumni
  • Alumni & Networks
      • Alumni
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior Military Officers (APPSMO)
      • Asia-Pacific Programme for Senior National Security Officers (APPSNO)
      • International Strategy Forum-Asia (ISF-Asia)
      • SRP Executive Programme
      • Terrorism Analyst Training Course (TATC)
  • Publications
      • RSIS Publications
        • Annual Reviews
        • Books
        • Bulletins and Newsletters
        • Commentaries
        • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
        • Commemorative / Event Reports
        • IDSS Paper
        • Interreligious Relations
        • Monographs
        • NTS Insight
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • RSIS Publications for the Year
      • Glossary of Abbreviations
      • External Publications
        • Authored Books
        • Journal Articles
        • Edited Books
        • Chapters in Edited Books
        • Policy Reports
        • Working Papers
        • Op-Eds
        • External Publications for the Year
      • Policy-relevant Articles Given RSIS Award
  • Media
      • Great Powers
      • Sustainable Security
      • Other Resource Pages
      • Media Highlights
      • News Releases
      • Speeches
      • Vidcast Channel
      • Audio/Video Forums
  • Events
  • Giving
  • Contact Us
  • instagram instagram rsis.sg
Connect

Getting to RSIS

Map

Address

Nanyang Technological University
Block S4, Level B3,
50 Nanyang Avenue,
Singapore 639798

View location on Google maps Click here for directions to RSIS

Get in Touch

    Connect with Us

      rsis.ntu
      rsis_ntu
      rsisntu
    RSISVideoCast RSISVideoCast rsisvideocast
      school/rsis-ntu
    instagram instagram rsis.sg
      RSS
    Subscribe to RSIS Publications
    Subscribe to RSIS Events

    RSIS Intranet

    S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies Think Tank and Graduate School Ponder The Improbable Since 1966
    Nanyang Technological University Nanyang Technological University

    Skip to content

     
    • RSIS
    • Publication
    • RSIS Publications
    • From Competition to Cooperation: The Global Palm Oil “Sustainability Turn” as a Turning Point for the Malaysia-Indonesia “Special Relationship”
    • Annual Reviews
    • Books
    • Bulletins and Newsletters
    • Commentaries
    • Counter Terrorist Trends and Analyses
    • Commemorative / Event Reports
    • IDSS Paper
    • Interreligious Relations
    • Monographs
    • NTS Insight
    • Policy Reports
    • Working Papers
    • RSIS Publications for the Year

    WP338 | From Competition to Cooperation: The Global Palm Oil “Sustainability Turn” as a Turning Point for the Malaysia-Indonesia “Special Relationship”
    Helena Varkkey

    16 June 2022

    download pdf

    Abstract

    Palm oil is the source of a common identity between Malaysia and Indonesia, the two largest palm oil producers globally. As with many other socio-cultural aspects of the Malaysia-Indonesia “special relationship”, palm oil has also led to heightened competition between both nations. However, recent negative sentiments towards palm oil originating from sustainability-conscious markets in the north have threatened both states’ access to important export markets. This paper examines how these developments have marked an important turning point in Malaysia-Indonesia relations. Faced with such external pressures, both states are now increasingly reliant on each other’s continued prominence for their own market survival — their shared strategic interests tending to facilitate cooperation instead of conflict or competition. This paper takes the Malaysian perspective in illustrating the shift from competition to cooperation within the palm oil sector. Of particular interest are the issues over transboundary haze, where Malaysia’s responses have been increasingly geared towards appeasement, restrained by concerns about related fallouts in the palm oil sector.

    Source: Shutterstock

    About the Author

    Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her research focuses on the governance of transboundary pollution or “haze” in Southeast Asia. More broadly, she seeks to understand how economic development can be reconciled with environmental sustainability in this resource-rich region. The findings from her PhD at the University of Sydney has been published as a book in 2016 as part of the Routledge Malaysian Studies Series, entitled “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Patronage”. She has consulted for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia and the ASEAN Secretariat on these topics, and continues to undertake research in this field. She undertook a Visiting Senior Research Fellowship at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore in 2021.

    Categories: Working Papers / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy / Regionalism and Multilateralism / Southeast Asia and ASEAN

    Last updated on 16/06/2022

    comments powered by Disqus

    Abstract

    Palm oil is the source of a common identity between Malaysia and Indonesia, the two largest palm oil producers globally. As with many other socio-cultural aspects of the Malaysia-Indonesia “special relationship”, palm oil has also led to heightened competition between both nations. However, recent negative sentiments towards palm oil originating from sustainability-conscious markets in the north have threatened both states’ access to important export markets. This paper examines how these developments have marked an important turning point in Malaysia-Indonesia relations. Faced with such external pressures, both states are now increasingly reliant on each other’s continued prominence for their own market survival — their shared strategic interests tending to facilitate cooperation instead of conflict or competition. This paper takes the Malaysian perspective in illustrating the shift from competition to cooperation within the palm oil sector. Of particular interest are the issues over transboundary haze, where Malaysia’s responses have been increasingly geared towards appeasement, restrained by concerns about related fallouts in the palm oil sector.

    Source: Shutterstock

    About the Author

    Dr Helena Varkkey is an Associate Professor at the Department of International and Strategic Studies, University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Her research focuses on the governance of transboundary pollution or “haze” in Southeast Asia. More broadly, she seeks to understand how economic development can be reconciled with environmental sustainability in this resource-rich region. The findings from her PhD at the University of Sydney has been published as a book in 2016 as part of the Routledge Malaysian Studies Series, entitled “The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia: Palm Oil and Patronage”. She has consulted for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Academy of Sciences, Malaysia and the ASEAN Secretariat on these topics, and continues to undertake research in this field. She undertook a Visiting Senior Research Fellowship at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore in 2021.

    Categories: Working Papers / Country and Region Studies / International Political Economy / Regionalism and Multilateralism

    Last updated on 16/06/2022

    Back to top

    Terms of Use | Privacy Statement
    Copyright © S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies. All rights reserved.
    This site uses cookies to offer you a better browsing experience. By continuing, you are agreeing to the use of cookies on your device as described in our privacy policy. Learn more
    OK
    Latest Book
    From Competition to Cooperation: The Global Palm Oil “Sustainability Turn” as a Turning Point for the Malaysia-Indonesia “Special Relationship”

    Abstract

    Palm oil is the source of a common identity between Malaysia and Indonesia, the two largest palm oil producers globally. As with many other socio-cultu ...
    more info