Chinese Firm Reported Keen to Build Ethanol Plant in Fiji

Text of report by news portal Fijilive website on 22 September

The owner of a chain of sugar mills in China’s Guangxi Province, Liangci Sugar Manufacture Company Ltd, plans to invest some 63.6m dollars (40m US) in starting up an ethanol plant in Fiji.

A four-member delegation comprising mill managers and engineers has conducted surveys of potential sites in Naitasiri, Tailevu, Vanua Levu, Nadroga, Sigatoka and Navua.

Fiji’s Ambassador to China Sir Jim Ah Koy said the team was pleased with the potential sites they were shown given that most of the crops grown in China could also be grown here.

“They reckon Fiji can be a tremendous country. It’s just that we are just very much undeveloped,” Ah Koy said. He said the team would also be working closely with the Native Land Trust Board [NTLB] for the identification and provision of unused land.

“We have tonnes of unused land that’s always been a political football in the past. It will no longer be a political football because indigenous Fijians now can plant their land with tavioka,” Ah Koy said.

“Each mill requires about 18,000 ha of land and we’ve learnt from the NLTB, not counting freehold or state land, but just pure native leases, that there are about 200,000 ha of spare lands that are not being planted,” he said.

Ah Koy said the interim government was convinced it would want to get this project off the ground to arrest Fiji’s heavy reliance on imported fuel.

“They are likely to sign an MOU (memorandum of understanding) to be a partner.” He said the MOU would be an agreement that Fiji and China would enter into a joint venture partnership where Fiji would own 51 per cent and 49 per cent for a Chinese company.

As for the loan for this project, it was revealed that it would be at the rate of 5 per cent interest free, 2 per cent on the six year for the next 20 years “so we expect addressing the issue for 25 years” [as published].

Between 700 and 800 jobs are expected to be generated from this project.

Originally published by Fijilive website, Suva, in English 22 Sep 08.

(c) 2008 BBC Monitoring Asia Pacific. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.