MALAYSIAN INVESTORS INVITED TO ESTABLISH PALM OIL REFINERIES IN CENTRAL KALIMANTAN

By Nashir Mansor

PALANGKARAYA (Central Kalimantan), Jan 26 (Bernama) -- Malaysian
entreprenuers are being invited to establish palm oil refineries in Central
Kalimantan.

Deputy Governor Ir. Achmad Diran said as the province's oil palm industry
was developing rapidly there was a need for more refineries to cater for the 1.2
million tonnes of crude palm oil produced here.

Central Kalimantan has only one refinery as such a significant amount of the
crude palm oil, produced in the province ,is transported by ships to Surabaya
for processing.

" There is great potential to invest in this sector as oil palm cultivation
is developing rapidly in Central Kalimantan which registered a growth of 5.94
per cent last year.

" We have four million hectares of land which is suitable not only for oil
palm but also for rubber cultivation," he told a Malaysian delegation of
journalists and businessmen from Sabah led by former Sabah Chief Minster
Harris Salleh who are on a 10-day visit to Kalimantan.

The visit, sponsored by Berjaya Foundation and coordinated by the Indonesian
Counsulate in Kota Kinabalu, is to explore investment prospects in Kalimantan
and to forge close ties between Malaysia and Indonesia.

Achmad said several Malaysian companies were already developing part of
700,000 hectares of land being opened up in Central Kalimantan.

He said there was also ample opportunities for investors to venture into
livestock breeding of cattle to meet the rising demand for beef.

" Central Kalimantan needs an additional 7,000 heads of cattle just to
supply meat to its 300,000 population.

" This does not include the demand for beef from other provinces in
Kalimantan," he added.

-- BERNAMA