JP/11/J06

Canadian firm to invest US$5b in fish-processing

The Jakarta Post Jakarta

A Canadian company is ready to invest some US$5 billion for the development of a fish-processing business in Indonesia, an official said on Sunday.

Soempeno Putro, a senior official of the Marine and Fishery Ministry, said in Bogor, West Java, that a Canadian company which has joined the Chianti Group would develop a squid and shrimp- processing business as "ready to eat food" in Indonesia.

"Next week, they (investors) will come to Indonesia to follow up on their plan to invest here," Soempeno said as quoted by Antara.

In addition, such demand for "ready to eat food" with squid and shrimp as its ingredient is big in Canada, while the country's capability to meet the demand was limited because of a shortage of raw material.

Therefore, he said, the Canadian company would forge a cooperation with some local shrimp-processing industries, respectively in Bangka, Bangka-Belitung province and Ambon in Maluku province.

Soempeno who was also a former Indonesian attache for agriculture at the Indonesian embassy in Belgium, said that more companies in other countries such as the Netherlands and France had also expressed their readiness to invest in Indonesia's fishery sector.

China has already made an investment of about US$630 million for the development of supporting fishery facilities and cold storage in Indonesia.

"To this point, they (investors) only asked for a guarantee of security and political stability in the country," he said.

Soempeno further said that if Indonesia could at least attract more investors from European countries, it would certainly reduce obstacles in the export of fish products to the region.