Bakrie, cooperatives tie up

JAKARTA (JP): PT Agrowiyana, a subsidiary of PT Bakrie Sumatera Plantation (BSP), will join up with farmers' cooperatives to build a palm oil processing plant in Jambi.

Agrowiyana, which operates oil palm plantations in the province, said on Thursday that the company and the cooperatives would spend about Rp 45 billion on construction of the mill.

Agrowiyana will initially own an 80 percent stake in the plant and the remainder will be under KUD Swakarsa and KUD Suka Makmur, farmers' cooperatives, who also grow oil palms in cooperation with the company. Palm oil is a major component of cooking oil.

The memorandum of understanding for the construction of the palm oil processing mill was signed in Jakarta on Thursday by Gafur Sulistyo Umar, CEO of Agrowiyana, Eka Nurdaya, the chairman of KUD Swakarsa, and Sugiono, the chairman of KUD Suka Makmur and president of Bank Nusa Nasional, which will support the financing of the plant. (29)