Malaysia’s Felcra plans to enter a joint venture with an Omani firm to open a palm oil refinery in the Sultanate. Both sides are expected to sign a final agreement by mid-December. Felcra will hold a 49 percent stake in the plant, which has a construction cost of 100 million Malaysian ringgits ($26.3 million).
Felcra will hold a 49 percent stake in the project by investing of MR 7.5 million, with the remaining stake to be held by the Omani company. Some 80 percent of the refinery’s building cost will be covered by Oman’s Central Bank, reported Bernama .
According to Felcra’s Chairman Datuk Hamzah Zainuddin, the construction of the refinery will be completed by early 2004. It will be largely managed by Malaysian personnel and will process crude palm oil imported from Felcra's 150,000 hectares of plantations in Malaysia. The location of the plant will be near Port Salalah in order to facilitate exports to Yemen, United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar.
Manufacturing forms the largest single component of Malaysia’s economy. It is one of the world's largest producers of palm oil. Oman imports timber, palm oil, plywood, chemicals, pipes, hardware and electrical goods from Malaysia while Oman’s exports to Malaysia comprise of building materials and foodstuffs. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
