21 May, 2008 – The Indonesian Government plans to increase its palm oil output by creating up to four million hectares of new plantations on the island of Papua.
Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture announced companies would be able to initially create plantations of around 20,000 hectares each, with a view to enlarging them later to the current maximum of between 100,000-200,000 hectares.
A number of firms from Indonesia and Malaysia have already expressed an interest in the initiative, said the Ministry of Agriculture.