Felda Mulls Offer To Open Estates In Cambodia

From Amer Hamzah Md Sap YANGON, Nov 2 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's Felda, with two estates in Indonesia, is considering an offer to open estates in Cambodia. Its Chairman Mohamed Isa Abdul Samad said Felda management was currently negotiating with the Cambodian authorities following an offer to open up 160,000 hectares (400,000 acres) in that country. He said the Federal Land Development Authority has been provided with the necessary documents, relevant details and study findings of Malaysian organisations for consideration. "I believe we will study the offer as it is a good opportunity," he told Bernama. Mohamed Isa said Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, duiring his visit to Malaysia, had suggested to Prime Minister Najib Razak that Felda open estates in Cambodia. He said Felda would study crop suitability either oil palm or other crops to be planted in the estates. One of Felda's estates in Indonesia is a joint venture with Pilgrims Management and Fund Board (Tabung Haji) while the other with a local company. Mohamed Isa said Felda was also working to expand its product sales worldwide. "For instance, we've a factory in Turkey to penetrate the east europe market," he said, adding that Felda was also taking measures to enter the African market. He, however, did not elaborate on plans to expand to the African continent. Mohamed Isa said the move was to broaden the market for Felda's products which are being sold in 13 countries currently. He said Felda's overall annual sales turnover was about RM16 billion (US$5.1 billion), mainly through three million metric tonnes of palm oil exports worldwide. "This negates claims by certain quarters in Malaysia that Felda is a bankrupt agency," added the former Negeri Sembilan Chief Minister, who is here for the two-day Felda products exhibition beginning Wednesday. -- BERNAMA