KL to swap palm oil for planes

KL to swap palm oil for planes

KUALA LUMPUR (AP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad will visit Europe and Russia next week, where reportedly he will hold talks on a plan to swap palm oil for military planes.

Mahathir's office said on Friday he will stopover in Singapore on Monday before starting a 10-day tour of England, Spain, Greece, Germany and Russia beginning Sept. 11.

The Business Times newspaper reported that Malaysia is seeking to revive a plan to swap palm oil for Russian-made Sukhoi Su-30 fighter jets which was shelved four years ago due to the Asian financial crisis.

The fighters cost about US$35 million each. In 1994, Malaysia bought 18 MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets for $600 million, and paid part of it with palm oil shipments worth $95 million.

Malaysia is the world's biggest producer of palm oil, but a glut and poor prices have forced the government to strike barter deals with China and India governments recently.