Boustead's Plantation Division is primarily involved in the planting and processing of oil palm as well as forestry and oil bulking installations. The Group's plantation interest is held through a public listed subsidiary namely Boustead Holdings Berhad and non-listed subsidiaries, Boustead Plantations Berhad and Boustead Properties Berhad.

Taking the lead in estate management

The Group's plantation assets are managed by Boustead Estates Agency Sdn Bhd (BEASB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Boustead Holdings Berhad. BEASB manages a total of more than 100,000 hectares of agriculture land, of which 78,000 hectares are owned by the Group while the remaining, on behalf of investors and other organisations.

Today, BEASB is one of the leading estate management agencies in the region providing a complete range of management services and solutions including engineering consultancy, design, construction and marketing for oil palm estates, mills and rubber factories.

Utilising advanced technologies to stay ahead, BEASB, via its associate company, Applied Agricultural Resources Sdn Bhd (AAR) also provides research and advisory services.

Additionally, AAR's brand new and state-of-the-art oil palm tissue culture lab is leading the way globally in the tissue culture clonal propagation of oil palm. The lab, situated in Ijok, Selangor, is the first and largest of its kind in the world and possibly boast the largest area of clonal plantings globally.

In 2008, AAR commissioned its Biotechnology and Molecular Laboratory to enhance its R&D facilities in the fields of DNA Fingerprinting, Marker Assisted Selection and Transformation of oil palm genes.

Going beyond for future growth

The Group's Plantation Division continues to move forward to enhance growth by tapping prospects locally and abroad.

Toward this end, the Group has been actively investing in Sarawak through joint ventures with the Land Custody and Development Authority and Pelita Holdings Sdn Bhd of Sarawak.

In addition, the Group is also investing in Indonesia via joint ventures in Sumatra Selatan. Management of the Group's investment in Indonesia is undertaken through P.T. Boustead Indonesia Management Consultancy Services (BIMCS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of BEASB.