Planters prefer Sarawak and Sabah than Indonesia

WHILE interest in the expansion of oil palm hectarage in Indonesia has still not waned, many local plantation groups are seen zooming in on the native customary rights (NCR) land development schemes in Sarawak and Sabah.

The rationale can be largely due to logistics and cost-benefit reasons. Both state governments are also actively converting more under-utilised NCR land into large-scale oil palm plantations with the aim of improving the socio-economic position of the landowners.