George Soros to invest in oil palm sector in Aceh

JAKARTA (Jakarta Post): One of the world's best-known fund managers, George Soros, plans to invest in the oil palm plantation sector in the country's westernmost province, Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, its governor,Irwandi Yusuf, said Thursday after meeting with Soros in New York recently.

"He said that he was interested in developing an oil palm plantation of about 20,000 hectares during the first stage. This kind of investment could feed around 2,500 families in Aceh," Irwandi said as reported Thursday by Antara.

The governor could not put a precise figure on the investment, or the likely timeframe. However, he promised that his administration would work hard to help Soros realize the plan.

"Both sides will immediately get to work on ensuring that this investment plan is realized," Irwandi said.

Soros is best known for his famous bet against sterling as Britain was forced to pull its currency out of the European currency grid in 1992. This eventually earned Soros an estimated US$1.1 billion.(Andi Haswidi)