Unilever to invest $750 mln in Indonesia

JAKARTA, Sept 30 | Fri Sep 30, 2011 - Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant Unilever (UNc.AS) plans to invest 550 million euros ($750 million) in Indonesia, building and expanding personal care and ice cream factories with an initial investment of 90 million euros.

"These new facilities will help us to continue to grow in Indonesia, an important market in which we have strong category positions across our portfolio, as we do across South East Asia," Pier Luigi Sigismondi, Unilever's chief supply chain officer said in a statement.

Earlier this week, Indonesian palm oil firm Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART) said it was in talks with Unilever about resuming supplies of palm oil, which used in food and cosmetics.

Major palm oil consumers such as Unilever, Nestle and Burger King stopped buying from SMART last year because of environmental concerns.

($1 = 0.733 Euros) (Reporting by Michael Taylor; Editing by Lincoln Feast)