MALAYSIAN COMPANY IN NEW INDONESIA PALM OIL DEAL

KUALA LUMPUR, April 2 (Reuters) - Malaysia's MPTA Corp Sdn Bhd hassealed a deal worth $53 million to plant and process oil palm inIndonesia's Sulawesi region, the official Bernama news agency said onMonday.The deal signed on Monday between MPTA and Indonesia's PT Lolo Persadacomes close on the heels of a controversial sale of oil plantations inIndonesia to another Malaysian company, Kumpulan Guthrie Bhd .MPTA is a newly formed company in Malaysia's opposition-ruledTerengganu state.Guthrie's $345 million deal for 25 plantations was signed in Novemberwith the tacit backing of both Indonesian and Malaysian authorities.But the Guthrie deal has been plagued by delays and IndonesianIndonesian Finance Minister Prijadi Praptosuhardjo recently proposedsetting up a panel to review the deal.MPTA signed an agreement with PT Lolo Persada, a firm based in SouthSulawesi, to jointly develop oil palm fields and milling facilities over aperiod of 10 years, Bernama said.The deal was inked in the state capital of Terengganu. The state, richin offshore crude oil, is one of two Malaysian territories ruled by theconservative Parti Islam se-Malaysia.Bernama quoted Terengganu chief minister Abdul Hadi Awang as sayingthat MPTA Corp had obtained necessary approval for carrying out theproject on a 11,600 hectare block on the Timur Laut district in Sulawesi.The investment involved would be 200 million ringgit ($52.64 million)and MPTA would hold 75 percent of the equity, he said.(US$1 = 3.8 ringgit)