Riau to invite foreign investment in plantation, fishery sectors

Riau to invite foreign investment in plantation, fishery sectors

05/15/08 Jakarta (ANTARA News) -

The Riau provincial administration will invite foreign businessmen to run some projects in the province, mainly in the plantation and fishery sectors, during the Indonesian Regional Investment Forum (IRIF) to be held here on May 26 and 27.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to open the event to be organized jointly by the Regional Representatives Council (DPD) and Global Initiatives."We will invite business players from Singapore, Malaysia, the Middle East, Australia, Europe and the United States to invest in Riau," Riau Governor Rusli Zainal told the press here on Thursday.

Rusli expressed optimism that he could invite foreign business players to invest in the province as the province`s economic growth was relatively high, reaching 8.29 percent per year.He added the provincial administration has established a team to accelerate the investment while constructing the physical infrastructure.

He said Riau would try hard to increase its crude palm oil (CPO) production although it now has produced 15-16 million tones per year, or half of the total Indonesia`s CPO product.

And to attract business players to invest in the province, the provincial administration has established an integrated service office to facilitate the permit`s granting to the business players, he said.

"We will also provide informative profile on the projects offered to them," he added.Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be among the keynote speakers at the forum.

Among other figures to speak at the forum would be former Malaysian deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam on behalf of the president director of Sime Darby and the chief executive officer(CEO) of Khazanah Nasional, Dato Azman Mokhtar.(*)