China’s ZTE Agribusiness Company Ltd is aiming at a 1 million hectare palm tree plantation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo) for biofuel production, and the project can offer thousands of jobs for the local people, the company’s regional manager Zhang Peng told Xinhua in an interview on Friday.
“We will plant palm trees here and convert palm oil into biodiesel. The one-million-hecatre palm plantation will eventually provide thousands of jobs for the local Congolese people,” Zhang said.
ZTE, an IT company from China, is expanding to the biodiesel sector to diversify its operations. The regional manager said that weather conditions in the DR Congo is very suitable for growing palm trees, which are cultivated for palm oil.
“Indonesia and Malaysia are traditionally major producers of palm oil, but after research we found that weather conditions herein the DR Congo is also very suitable for growing palm trees,” he said.
Biodiesel has emerged as a big business amid strained energy supply worldwide, and palm trees could be a fair solution to ease the industrial world’s thirst for energy.
According to Zhang, one hectare of palm tree plantation could yield five tons of palm oil, while some 90 percent of the palm oil could be converted to biodiesel.
Once completed, this project can not only satisfy the energy needs of DR Congo’s industries, but also offer the Congolese lots of job opportunities.
“Palm tree plantation needs a lot of labor work, and we are going to hire workers locally. So the entire plantation will hire thousands of local workers,” said the manager.
This kind of investment has benefited the DR Congo government and people a lot. DR Congo’s government spokesman Lambert Mende told Xinhua on Thursday that China’s collaboration DR Congo in such fields as infrastructure, education and energy development are beneficial to the African country.
He said the the DR Congo government is satisfied with cooperation with the Chinese side and reiterated the government’s determination to stick to the cooperative ties with China.
China and the DR Congo have carried out a number of cooperation projects in such fields as infrastructure, education and energy sector, bringing benefits for both countries and their peoples.
The ZTE Agribusiness regional manager expressed gratitude to the DR Congo government’s spport for facilitating investment here, and voiced optimism for the future of Sino-Congolese cooperation in various fields.
More Recent Palm Oil News 
- Crude Palm Oil Ends Down On Weak Crude Oil, Soyoil
- Nestle Drops Indonesia’s Sinar Mas As Palm Oil Supplier
- No Reason To Fear Investor Interest: Ruchi Soya
- South East Asia Dry Spell Thins Palm Oil, Rubber Supply; Threatens Rice
- Crude Palm Oil Ends Up On Higher Soyoil, Crude
- Crude Palm Oil Ends Marginally Lower In Choppy Trade
- Palm Oil Declines on Crude, South American Soybean Crop Concern
- Crude Palm Oil Stumbles On Long Liquidation, Profit-Taking
- “Green” Palm Oil Output May Double As Prices Rise
- Malaysian Windfall Tax Capping Palm Oil Price Rise
- Palm Oil Refineries Should Venture Into More Downstream Value-Added Products
- Follow Palm Oil HQ On Twitter
- Soyoil Subsidies Create Artificial Price, Says MPOC
- Crude Palm Oil Ends Down; Weak Cash Demand, Long Liquidation
- Bigger crowd, more Americans at palm oil meet
PRO Palm Oil Live Market News
- China Soybean Futures Settle Higher; CBOT Buoys Sentiment
- BMD Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Futures Rise; March 1-20 Exports Likely Up
- China Dalian Commodity Exchange Grain Stocks, Mar 19
- India Commodity Prices Including Palm Oil – Agriculture
- China Dalian Grain Futures Closing Prices, Volume
- CORRECT (3/18): Nestle Drops Indonesia’s Sinar Mas As Palm Oil Supplier
- Malaysian Cash Market Prices For Palm Oil – March 19
- BMD Crude Palm Oil (CPO) Futures Tad Up; MYR2,550 Key Level
- India Soy Futures Likely Up; Decline In Supply
- BMD Crude Palm Oil (CPO) May Open MYR10 Down On Overnight Soyoil
- Southeast Asia Palm Oil Weather – Mar 18
- European Veg Oil PM Palm Oil & Lauric Oil Prices- Mar 18
- CBOT Soy Outlook: Down 9c-11c On Dollar, Weak Fundamentals
- European Veg Oil AM Palm Oil & Lauric Oil Prices- Mar 18
- India Commodity Prices Including Palm Oil – Agriculture