Bernama.com (Malaysian National News Agency), 29 August 2006 18:04 PM

Golden Hope To Assist Venezuela In Palm Oil Activities

BANTING, Aug 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's plantation- based Golden Hope Plantations Bhd is ready to extend its expertise to oil-rich Venezuela which is keen on palm oil-related activities in an effort to diversify.

Golden Hope's group chief executive Datuk Sabri Ahmad said Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is on an official visit to Malaysia, had indicated the country's desire to grow oil palm to produce biodiesel and food as well as for oleochemical purposes.

He said Venezuela shared a similar equator line with Malaysia, making its land suitable for planting oil palm.

Venezuela grows minimal oil palm currently and bought about 34 tonnes, or less than one percent, of Malaysia's total palm oil exports of 12.5 million tonnes in 2004.

Sabri said Golden Hope initially could provide consultancy agrotech services to develop the palm oil industry in Venezuela.

"We have the expertise, we should export our expertise. We are looking at potential business. More in terms of consultancy services and also marketing," he said when met after the visit of Chavez to Golden Hope's facilities near here Tuesday.

Chavez visited Golden Hope's biodiesel plant Golden Jomalina Food Industries Sdn Bhd in Teluk Panglima Garang and its plantation and Golden Hope Academy in Pulau Carey.

Sabri said that Golden Hope could also sell its in-house developed GH 500 series planting material to Venezuela.

The planting material is capable of yielding 40 tonnes fresh fruit bunch per tonne and 25 percent of extraction rate.

It is sold at RM1.35 per seed locally and RM1.80 for overseas markets.

About 30 percent of Golden Hope's total plantation had been planted with the GH 500 series.

Sabri said while Golden Hope was ready to lend a helping hand, this remained subject to government-to-government consent.

He said that should Golden Hope decide to have a presence in Venezuela, it would establish "nucleas estate" where the promotion of palm oil would be done via smallholders.

"Land is sensitive issue anywhere in the world. We should work with the government how to promote palm oil through their own smallholders," he added.

Sabri, who is also the Malaysian Palm Oil Association chairman, told Chavez during a briefing that Malaysia could double its palm oil production either by 2010 or 2015.

This could be achieved via good planting materials, harvest culture and biotechnology applications which Malaysia was currently pursuing, he said.

Malaysia produced 15 million metric tonnes of palm oil last year.

Sabri also told the president that six million tonnes of the total production would be set aside for biodiesel production and the remainder for food-related purposes.

He also told Chavez that the cost to run a 10,000-hectare palm oil plantation would require an investment of about US$40 million for three years.

-- BERNAMA