KUALA LUMPUR: Felda is open to cancelling the land lease with Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd (FGV) and having Indonesian Sitorus Martua emerge as a big shareholder in its plantation unit.
“We are exploring all options available to us,” said Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) chairman Tan Sri Shahrir Abdul Samad.
“This is to ensure a sustainable financial situation for Felda,” he told NST Business in a telephone interview today.
It was reported that Felda is seeking the return of the land that is currently leased out to and managed by FGV because it feels that it can extract higher returns.
At the same time, FGV is also likely to see Wilmar International Ltd co-founder Martua Sitorus as a new shareholder.
Since Shahrir helmed Felda at the beginning of the year, he has been exploring new ideas with his team on ways to squeeze more out of its investment assets and maximise its investment in FGV.
Felda, which currently comes under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Department, was set up 61 years ago to champion the socio-economic agenda of providing “land for the landless, jobs for the jobless.”.