George Soros to invest in oil palm sector in Aceh

One of the world's best-known fund managers, George Soros, plans to invest in the oil palm plantation sector in 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. Following this, he was dubbed "the man who broke the Bank of England." During the 1997-1998 Asian crises, his name was repeatedly linked to speculation that led to the devaluation of Southeast Asian currencies, although he consistently rejected the accusations. Then Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohammad was particularly strident in making accusations against Soros.

With an estimated net worth of around $8.5 billion, he is ranked by Forbes magazine as the 80th-richest person in the world. A Hungarian-born U.S. citizen, Soros is said to have started investing in Indonesian companies in 1999, buying shares in investment firm PT Bhakti Investama and PT Agis, which is a distributor for 14 household and electronic brands, such as Sony, Toshiba, Philips, Goldstar and RCA.

Currently, he is the chairman of Soros Fund Management and the Open Society Institute. Both institutions are heavily engaged in philanthropic activities. With the price of crude oil continuing to increase in the recent years, biofuel has become the most sought-after alternative energy source, with crude palm oil (CPO) being one of the main raw materials. Currently, Indonesia has the largest oil palm hectarage in the world, with 6.1 million hectares in Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Papua and, to a lesser degree, Java. "Aceh has a vast land area with a lot of potential, especially in the oil palm sector.

However, we do not have the money to develop this potential," Irwandi said. Attracting foreign investment has been one of Irwandi's main tasks since he was elected governor in Aceh's first democratic local election in February this year. In the current era of peace and recovery following 32 years of civil unrest, as well as the 2004 tsunami disaster, Aceh is opening up its arms to investment, especially in the energy, mining, agricultural and fisheries sector.

In 2005, oil palm plantations in the province produced nearly 250,000 tons of CPO from an area of 163,000 hectares. Investment procedures in Aceh have improved since the establishment of the Aceh One-Stop Investment Service (KPTSP), where business permits can be processed within 7 working days at the latest.