04/10/05 (The Malay Mail) - TABUNG Haji (TH) plans to invest as much asRM188.75 million in oil palm plantations in Western Mindanao, ThePhilippines, sources said yesterday.

Mail Money was told that the investment will likely be done through theJanoub Philippines Development Corp Inc joint venture with TH.

TH has a 60 per cent stake in the joint-venture company, which was formedNov 25, 1996.

In the current venture, TH-Janoub Philippines is teaming up with Alpha andFirsha Properties Development Corp, a Filipino-owned company based inDumalinao, Zamboanga del Sur.

Mail Money was told that the venture with Alpha will be centred on thecultivation of oil palm in the district of Lakewood and Siay, which arelocated in Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay respectively.

The venture has thus far cultivated five hectares for oil palm in theZamboanga Sibugay area, and the additional investment might also be madefor the setting up of oil mills for the plantation.

TH is looking to cultivate as much as 8,000 hectares of plantation land,when all the investments are made, Mail Money was told.

Apart from TH, Han Siew King, a private Malaysian investor who worked withSime Darby several years ago, may also invest in Mindanao.

Little is known of Han, except that he is looking to invest in theprovince of Zamboanga Sibugay, by possibly setting up a mill in the area.