Go for Indon partnerships, Malaysian plantation investors advised

Tuesday September 11, 2007 - The Star, Malaysia

Go for Indon partnerships, Malaysian plantation investors advised

MAKASSAR (South Sulawesi: Malaysian investors in the plantation sector in Indonesia have been advised to opt for joint ventures with local partners rather than 100% ownership.

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he advised this to dispel the misconception among certain groups in Indonesia that Malaysia wanted to monopolise their economy.

“This is important as we think that the best approach for us to improve ties with Indonesia is by focussing on economic cooperation.

“We believe that if our economic interaction is good, politics and people-to-people relations would follow suit,” he said in his keynote address at a seminar on the 50 years of ties between Malaysia and Indonesia here on Monday. Indonesia, he noted, had the advantage of having a large "land bank" and other sources of raw material, while Malaysia's strength was in technology, capital and management expertise.

It would be advantageous for both countries to exploit each other’s strength for mutual gain, he said. Najib said both countries could not afford to take the existing good relations for granted.

He noted that the misconception about the lopsided participation of Malaysian investors in Indonesian economy must be corrected as there were also many Indonesian investors who now owned prime property in Malaysia.