April 2 2005 - GOLDEN Hope Plantations Bhd has opened its new plant in HoChi Minh City, Vietnam.

The plant will increase the production capacity of its Vietnam-basedsubsidiary, Golden Hope Nhabe, by another 300 tonnes a day, from 160tonnes previously.

With the bigger refining capacity, Golden Hope Nhabe is set to makefurther inroads into the Indochinese market and to strengthen its presencein Cambodia.

Golden Hope said in a statement that the plant will be used to refine palmand seed oils that can be further processed to produce tailor- madeproducts for the snacks and confectionery industry.

Apart from that, it will also be producing consumer cooking oil.

It currently markets two cooking oil brands in Vietnam - Marvela and OngTao. Marvela is one of the top three cooking oil brands in Vietnam.

Golden Hope Nhabe, Golden Hope’s first international venture, has beenoperating since 1993.

It is a joint venture between Golden Hope and Vocarimex, a Vietnamesegovernment agency. The subsidiary has a paid-up capital of US$5.68 million(US$1 = RM3.80).

The plant was opened by Golden Hope chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Sarji AbdulHamid yesterday.