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.