THERE is no trade war between Malaysia and the European Union (EU) despite its campaign against palm oil, said Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Malaysia is the world’s second largest palm oil producer after Indonesia.

The prime minister had discussions with EU exhibitors at the Langkawi International Maritime and Aerospace Exhibition (Lima) today.

Among the exhibitors from the EU are Thales and Rafale International.

There were reportedly plans for Malaysia to buy France’s Rafale jets or the Eurofighter Typhoons.

But recently, Dr Mahathir had suggested that Malaysia shopped elsewhere for fighter jets, for example, from China.

“We have to make known the problems we face when they (EU) take action against us.

“I was telling the world that it is grossly unfair for rich countries to prevent poor countries from getting richer by not buying their products.

“That is all. There is no trade war,” he said.

The EU has proposed to limit the use of palm oil, phasing it out in motor fuel as it claims the cultivation of oil palms has caused deforestation.

Dr Mahathir also said he was only making a suggestion (about buying fighter jets from China), and there are no immediate plans for Malaysia to do so.

On his thoughts after visiting Chinese booths at Lima, he said there are many “attractive things” such as the planes and ground vehicles.

“China has, of course, made advancements. We are looking at Chinese products.”

Meanwhile, on his afternoon meetings with delegates from Russia, France and Japan, Dr Mahathir said they are interested to cooperate with Malaysia, perhaps set up manufacturing plants here to build aircraft or aircraft components.

He also said although Malaysia is interested in purchasing new aircraft, the existing fleet is still good to serve as they are well maintained.

“Our old planes are still serving well as we saw this morning (during the aerial show at the opening ceremony). They performed well.” – March 26, 2019