PALEMBANG (South Sumatra), March 11 (Bernama) -- The RM27 million palm oilmill operated by PT Pinang Wimas Sejati, a joint venture between LadangLekir Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of Perbadanan Pertanian Negeri Perak (PPNP),and Pt Trimitra Sumberbuana of Indonesia, will benefit both countries,said Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali.

"This is a win-win situation. We have capital and expertise but lack largetracts of land and ample supply of labour and Indonesia has what we lack.The co-operation between us will benefit all parties," he said at theopening of the mill here yesterday.

Also present were the Perak state secretary, Datuk Abdul Hanan AlangEndut, the chairman of the state executive committee for agriculture,agro-based industries and tourism, Datuk Radzi Manan, and the generalmanager of PPNP, Mohamad Niza Mohamad Ghazali.

The mill, which has a capacity of 45 tonnes per hour, was fully completedin October last year and started operations a month later.

Tajol Rosli said it was not easy to undertake agricultural activities ontop of former swamp land located at Kebun Sungai Melayu here.

"But with co-operation from the Indonesian central government and SouthSumatran provincial government and the hard work by the management andemployees, this oil palm venture has become a success," he said.

Tajol Rosli said PT Pinang Wimas Sejati's project in Sumatra covered anarea of 14,000 ha leased from the Indonesian government and 8,683 ha hadalready been planted with oil palm.

He said he was pleased that the project had benefited people from bothcountries as 1,500 job opportunities were created since the joint venturewas established in 1996.

Tajol Rosli disclosed that PPNP had received co-operation and technicalexpertise from an Ipoh-headquartered plantation management company, TaikoPlantations Sdn Bhd, which also managed 80,000 ha of oil palm plantationsin Sumatra.

He also disclosed that PPNP had not forgotten its corporate responsibilityin South Sumatra and had built a mosque, seven suraus or praying areas, aclinic, a school, staff quarters and other modern amenities for employees.

Tajol Rosli also called on Malaysian investors in Indonesia not to bemotivated by profit alone but to care for their employees' welfare andprovide them with better social amenities.

Having improved social amenities would also increase the level ofco-operation between Malaysian companies and their Indonesian employeesand enhance bilateral relations between the two countries in the process.

-- BERNAMA