"In light of the province's strong development potential, thriving business environment, and abundant agricultural resources, Wilmar has decided to continue increasing investment in Shandong," said Kuok Khoon Hong, chairman and CEO of Wilmar International.

Kuok Khoon Hong (right), chairman and CEO of Wilmar International, has an online dialogue with Liu Jiayi, Party secretary of Shandong. [Photo/commerce.shandong.gov.cn]

Kuok made the remarks during his online speech at the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" ASEAN special event, which was held on Sept 22 in Jinan, capital of Shandong.

The Singapore-based Wilmar International is one of Asia's leading agribusiness groups, alongside COFCO Group. It is engaged in the processing, merchandising, and distribution of agricultural products. It ranked third in Fortune's 2019 list of the World's Most Admired Companies.

"During the COVID-19 pandemic, I visited Shandong twice and was inspired by the province's achievements in epidemic prevention and control as well as social and economic recovery," said Kuok.

Wilmar has invested extensively in grain and oil projects in the cities of Jining, Qingdao, Yantai, Dezhou, and Tai'an, which have performed strongly and boosted development of the local economy, he said.

According to Kuok, Shandong has a large population, vast production area for grain and oil raw materials, and a huge consumer base.

"The province's promising prospects in the grain and oil industry are what attracted Wilmar," he said.

"Wilmar will expand its investment in Shandong and build innovative projects to meet the diverse and personalized demands of consumers for nutritious and healthy food," he said, adding that the company will continue to contribute to the high-quality economic development of Shandong.