Sime Darby Plantation To Exit Liberia Year-End

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 30 (Bernama) -- Sime Darby Plantation Bhd plans to exit Liberia by year-end after being in the country for about a decade. Group managing director Mohamad Helmy Othman Basha said the company is currently in talks with three interested parties on their possible takeover of the 63-year concession. "If we cannot reach a mutual agreement with them (the parties) by year-end, we will return the concession to the Liberian government. We are planning to exit Liberia in a responsible manner. "Liberia is a country where there are not many investors, and jobs are a bit hard to come by (for locals)," he told a media briefing on the group's second quarter financial result here, Friday. He added that Sime Darby Plantation is currently among the biggest investors in Liberia. As such, it wants to ensure that the party taking over the concession will act responsibly towards the staff. "We also have communities that live around the estates (in Liberia) who rely on us for their livelihood. “So, when we leave, we want to ensure that whatever good things we have done all these years will continue to benefit them," he added. The concession, which commenced in 2009, covers 220,000 hectares (ha) of land in Grand Cape Mount, Bomi, Gbarpolu and Bong granted by the Liberian government to be developed as oil palm and rubber plantations. To date, about 10,400ha have been utilised by five estates, namely Matambo, Grand Cape Mount, Zodua, Bomi and Lofa estates, of which 10,280ha were used for oil palm and 121ha for rubber. Meanwhile, Sime Darby Oils managing director Mohd Haris Mohd Arshad said the company will not be badly affected by India's decision to increase its import tax on Malaysian palm oil. "If you look at what we ship to India, (currently) it ranges between 1.2 million and 1.3 million tonnes of palm oil per year comprising a combination of Indonesian and Malaysian origin. "This year, most of it came from Malaysia but last year, a lot of it was from Indonesia. So, if there is going to be a duty change, which makes Malaysia uncompetitive, most likely we will be shipping it from Indonesia," he added. -- BERNAMA