4/19/2005 - Business Times (Malaysia) GOLDEN Hope Plantations Bhd, whichhas been on a buying spree, yesterday forged an alliance with SaudiArabia's Savola Edible Oils Co Ltd in the oils and fats business.

Golden Hope group chief executive Datuk Sabri Ahmad said the alliance ispart of the company's plans to focus on downstream activities as well asexpand earnings base in the West Asian region spanning across more than 25countries.

"Golden Hope relies heavily on plantations which contribute 80 per cent toits earnings while the remaining 20 per cent is from downstreamactivities.

"We hope to gradually change that to 50:50 by venturing into value-addedcollaboration by increasing its presence in the manufacturing, marketingand distribution of branded consumer packed edible oils and fatsinternationally," Sabri told reporters in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Sabri had earlier signed for Golden Hope a collaboration agreement withSavola which was represented by its chief executive officer Dr AbdulraoufM. Mannaa in the branded consumer and retail business of edible oils andfats.

Under the partnership, Golden Hope and Savola aim to become a significantglobal player in the branded consumer and retail business of edible oilsand fats.

Savola is the biggest buyer of palm oil in Saudi Arabia, buying about500,000 tonnes of palm oil yearly and with an annual revenue of RM3billion in its oils and fats division alone.

A listed entity, Savola is principally involved in the retail cooking oilssegment in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan. It has refineries andsubsidiaries in Morocco, Sudan and Kazakhstan.

The partnership has opened a pathway to Golden Hope to tap into the WestAsian palm oil market which bought 1.7 million tonnes last year, or 13.6per cent of Malaysia's total palm oil exports of 12.5 million tonnes.

Savola in turn would benefit from Golden Hope's strong presence in theAsean region market because it also has businesses in retail, sugar,plastic factory and fast food.

With the collaboration, Golden Hope now has operations in seven countriesranging from refining, margarine, bakery, cooking oil and vegetable gheemaking to plantations.

Golden Hope currently has presence in West Asia via its vegetable gheeproduct under the name Delico which it acquired from Holland's Unimillsrefinery four years ago.