Petaling Jaya: The government will accelerate and simplify licensing approvals for activities related to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to attract greater foreign investment and strengthen Malaysia’s position in the emerging sector, Plantation and Commodities Minister Johari Ghani said, reports Free Malaysia Today.
Speaking in the Dewan Negara, Johari said the initiative is aimed at turning Malaysia into a regional SAF hub while improving investor confidence in the domestic industry, according to a report by Utusan Malaysia.
He said the government is making it easier for companies to obtain approvals for building facilities, producing SAF and exporting the fuel, adding that faster and clearer processes would encourage industry players to base their operations in Malaysia.
Johari was responding to a question from Senator Che Alias Hamid on steps being taken to attract foreign investors beyond offering tax incentives.
The minister said Malaysia is capitalising on its status as the world’s second-largest palm oil producer by using feedstock such as used cooking oil, palm oil mill effluent oil and other palm-based biomass for SAF production.
He added that efforts are also under way to increase public awareness about the collection of used cooking oil, while the government is studying measures to ensure that raw materials used for SAF remain sustainable over the long term.
The announcement comes as global growth in SAF production faces headwinds. The International Air Transport Association said last week that worldwide SAF output is expected to slow and reach about 2.4 million tonnes next year.
Production in 2025 is projected at 1.9 million tonnes, roughly double the volume produced a year earlier, but lower than IATA’s earlier estimate of about 2.1 million tonnes. The industry body attributed the downgrade to a lack of sufficient policy support to fully utilise existing SAF production capacity.
IATA Director General Willie Walsh said poorly designed mandates have weakened progress in the sector and called on policymakers to work more closely with airlines to put in place incentives that can effectively support SAF adoption.
