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ndonesia, the world'€™s biggest palm oil producer, is seeking new entry hubs in the Middle East and Southeast European countries in a bid to reduce its reliance on long-established markets in China, India and Europe.

Trade Minister Muhammad Lutfi on Monday identified a number of potential trade hubs in several countries, including Turkey and Macedonia.

Turkey, which is located at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, could open access to markets in the central part of Asia and in the Arab Peninsula, including Iran, Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, Macedonia, situated in the central Balkan Peninsula, could become a gateway to the surrounding Balkan states, such as Croatia and Greece, as well as nations like Italy that lie in the middle and eastern parts of Europe.

'€œWe aim to sell our palm oil directly in these regions, and we are optimistic that we can successfully penetrate the new markets given our palm oil'€™s competitive edge,'€ Lutfi said.

Additional commodities set for export to the new markets include crude palm oil (CPO) and biodiesel, the minister added.

Once implemented, the plan would reduce Indonesia'€™s heavy reliance on the port of Rotterdam in The Netherlands to ship its palm oil to Europe and surrounding destinations.

At present, Indonesia'€™s major palm oil purchasers include India, China, the European Union, Pakistan and the United States.

The Indonesian Palm Oil Producers Association (Gapki) executive director Fadhil Hasan said he strongly supported the plan, as Turkey held a strategic geographic position and boasted a fast-growing economy.

The country has already become an export hub for several nations seeking markets in the Mediterranean and the Middle East.

'€œThis is a major opportunity for Indonesia to improve trade relations with Turkey in a way that could, over time, pave the way for a preferential trade agreement [PTA] such as the one Turkey has established with Malaysia,'€ Fadhil said in a text message.

The PTA between Malaysia -- the world'€™s second-largest palm oil producer '€” and Turkey is slated to take effect this month. That deal would lower import duties on palm oil products like CPO '€” slashing tariffs by 11.2 percent '€” down from 31.2 percent to 20 percent. Such a move would erode the competitiveness of Indonesian palm oil in the Turkish market, industry players have said.

In past years Indonesia has lost ground to Malaysia in Pakistan due to a similar trade arrangement between the two countries.

As the palm oil import duties paid by Indonesia were 15 percent higher than those in Malaysia, Indonesia saw its exports to Pakistan plunge from nearly US$1 billion in 2007 to an insignificant figure in the years since.

In February of 2012, Indonesia inked a deal with Pakistan, and it came into force last September. Since then, Indonesia'€™s palm oil exports to the country, with an annual demand of 1 million tons, have increased dramatically.

Indonesia is expecting palm oil production in 2014 to rise to 28 million tons, an increase of 7.7 percent, thanks to favorable weather and higher yields in maturing planting areas, according to an estimate by Gapki.

However, growth could plateau at 21.2 million tons, as a rise in the proportion of biodiesel in blended fuels caused a 2.5 percent spike in domestic consumption.