Tommy Soeharto eying oil palm business in Maluku

Ambon (ANTARA News) - National businessman Tommy Soeharto (youngest son of former President Soeharto) is eying a oil palm potential in Maluku which has areas with bright prospect for the business, a local official has said.

"When I was in Jakarta last week, Tommy`s staff member contacted me and said he (Tommy) is eying the prospect of the oil palm business in Maluku," the province`s deputy governor Memet Latuconsina said here Monday.

Memet said he hailed Tommy`s interest to invest in Maluku as it would also make other domestic and foreign investors confident in the province which has been conducive to all activities following the social conflict which broke out in 1999.

He pointed that the province is rich in natural resources with bright business prospects.

"So, we welcome Tommy and other investors to sink their capital in Maluku. The local administration will give various facilities and simplify licensing for their businesses in the province," he said.

The deputy governor said Eastern Seram district for the first stage provided a 80,000-heactare plot of land for oil palm plantations.

Meanwhile, Western Seram district has for the first phase provided an investor from China with a 30,000-hectare plot of land for oil palm businesses.

A number of national and foreign businesspeople are interested to invest in Maluku which is rich in various natural resources of high economic values like in the fishery sector.

"Thus, the Maluku administration needs to develop more facilities and infrastructures as well as making a `one-gate` management besides guaranteeing a climate conducive to investment," he said.

ANTARA noted that a number of foreign ambassadors from Russia, the Netherlands and Japan and other countries have visited Maluku to explore possible cooperation in various fields, especially in the fishery and marine affairs sector.