Monday 26 May 2008

Sime Darby`s investment in Indonesia reaches US$1.2 billion

05/26/08

Sime Darby`s investment in Indonesia reaches US$1.2 billion

Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The investment of Malaysian oil palm plantation company Sime Darby Bhd in Indonesia has reached US$1.2 billion, the company`s director said.

"Our initial investment was only US$400 million but it has now tripled in line with the expansion of our plantations," Tun Musa Hitam who is also a former Malaysian deputy prime minister said here on Monday.

He was attending the Indonesian Regional Investment Forum (IRIF) 2008.Musa Hitam said his company had a commitment to making a long term investment in Indonesia. The company`s resolve to make a long-term investment in Indonesia was reflected in the expansion of its plantations which initially covered only 200,000 hectares but now had a total width of 404,600 hectares.

Musa Hitam said undertaking a new project was not a priority of Sime Darby in Indonesia but it was not impossible that at some point in the future it would produce palm-oil downstream products needed by common consumers.

But at present the company was still concentrating on producing cooking oil to meet domestic demand in Indonesia. Musa Hitam said about 70 percent of his company`s products were intended to meet domestic need in Indonesia.

The remaining 30 percent of its output was for export."Our major domestic product is still cooking oil. We do not want to produce other things if the cooking oil need of the domestic market is not yet met," he said.(*)
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