New joint venture for oil palm plantation
New joint venture for oil palm plantation
JAKARTA (JP): Malaysia's Lembaga Urusan Tabungan Haji (LTH)
signed an agreement here yesterday to acquire a 70 percent stake
in PT Multigambut Industri, which will establish palm oil
plantations in Riau.
The agreement was signed by business tycoon Hashim S.
Djojohadikusumo of Multigambut and Dato Hj. Abdul Latif Bin Hj.
Mohd. Hassan of LTH.
The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Dato Dr. Abdul
Hamid Othman, an official of the Malaysian prime minister's
office.
Under the agreement, state-owned LTH, through its subsidiary,
Bonggaya Plantations Sdn. Bhd., will invest M$566 million (US$224
million) in Multigambut, which is owned by Hashim, Siti Hediati
Prabowo and Siti Hutami Adiningsih. The latter two are daughters
of President Soeharto.
Hashim, who will remain as Multigambut's president, will be
assisted by two directors, Jojo C. Policar and Badai S. Daniel,
while Hediati and Hutami will assume positions as commissioners.
LTH's chief executive officer, Abdul Latif, will serve as
Multigambut's new chief commissioner.
The new plantation, which will be supported by a palm oil
factory, is expected to produce 400,000 tons of crude palm oil a
year.
Hashim said the conversion of peat areas into plantations and
the planting of palm oil trees will start in the beginning of
next year.
He said 10,000 palm oil trees will be planted each year in the
next six to eight years.
Multigambut was established in 1988 by Hashim together with
Hediati and Hutami. The company started its operations in Riau by
converting some 100,000 hectares of peat areas into palm oil
plantations.
Hashim said the funds from LTH will enable Multigambut to
acquire 83,622 more hectares of land for plantations.
LTH was established under Malaysia's 1995 Tabung Haji Act
which allowed the state firm to invest outside Malaysia. In
Malaysia, LTH, through its subsidiaries, has shares in a number
of plantation businesses, particularly palm oil plantations.
According to Latif, this will be LTH's first step in expanding
its operations outside Malaysia. (pwn)