BPDP urged to expand palm oil human resource development programme

Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Palm Oil Plantation Fund Management Agency (BPDP) is expected to expand its human resource (HR) development programme for palm oil to meet the increasingly complex needs of the industry. Executive Director of the Palm Oil Agribusiness Strategic Policy Institute (PASPI), Tungkot Sipayung, stated in Jakarta on Saturday that HR development is a key factor in realising the sustainability of the national palm oil industry. According to him, HR development must be capable of addressing the various increasingly complex challenges of the palm oil industry and must play an active role in creating a sustainable palm oil industry system. “Palm oil HR development needs to cover aspects of quality, diversity of skills, and adequate availability of labour,” he said. Tungkot stated that BPDP has a strategic role in HR development through the provision of undergraduate education scholarships for children of palm oil farmers in various fields of expertise. The palm oil HR development is managed by BPDP together with the Directorate General of Plantations of the Ministry of Agriculture. “Since its establishment, BPDP has prepared palm oil industry HR through the provision of undergraduate education scholarships for children of palm oil farmers. This programme is a reinvestment of export levy funds,” Tungkot said in his statement.