Chinese, Malaysian Companies in Joint Venture

The Straits Times/Asia News Network reports that two Chinese companies, Mazhongdu International and Hainan Baisha Industrial, have teamed up with a Malaysian firm, Hateg, for a rubber production joint venture in Indonesia, in what is said to be a 3.5-billion-ringgit ($1.14 billion) investment over the next five years.

The first phase of the project in Kalimantan will cover 1,000 hectares over a year at a cost of 40 million ringgits, while another 40,000 hectares will be planted over five years after that. The joint venture partners are also in discussion to expand the plantation to 200,000 hectares, which will bring the total investment to about 8 billion ringgits.