BENGKULU, Mar 18 Asia Pulse - A Singaporean businessman is scheduled toinvest in the cooking oil industry in North Bengkulu district, Bengkuluprovince, a provincial plantation official said.

"The foreign businessman will soon realize the cooking oil industry in theprovince," head of the provincial plantation office Yusfiq Rizal said hereMonday without further elaboration.

The local administration would support the initiative of the first foreigninvestor who will build the industry to process local crude palm oil (CPO)into cooking oil products as an effort to increase the original localearnings, he said.

Data from the local plantation office showed that the province recentlyproduced about 17,000 tons of fresh palm oil fruit from the cultivation ofthe plant on 36,000 hectares of land.

He said that the processing of CPO into cooking oil would be projected tomeet foreign and local market demand, both in Palembang and some cities inJava.

(ANTARA)