Vietnam's palm oil project

Vietnam's palm oil project

HANOI (AFP): A Malaysian company is to invest US$46 million in
a palm oil plantation in one of the largest investments in
Vietnam's agricultural sector, a report said yesterday.

Golden Hope Co. Ltd. is to plant 10,000 hectares (26,000
acres) of palms in Long An province near Ho Chi Minh City to
provide the raw materials for a cooking oil processing plant it
already runs in Vietnam, the Thanh Nien newspaper said.

Golden Hope manager Cheah Chen Kin said local production of
cooking oils was only meeting about two-thirds of demand,
allowing ample room for expansion.

But Kin complained that his business was suffering from
competition from smuggled oil and called for a reduction in
turnover tax for his business, a $2.8 million joint venture with
Vietnamese firm Vocarimex.

After three years the plantation should be producing 30,000 to
40,000 tons of palm oil, Kin said.