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.