Soeharto opens RI's first TV tube company<\/p>\n
CIBITUNG, West Java (JP): President Soeharto yesterday
\ninaugurated the operation of the country's first TV tube
\nmanufacturer, PT LG Electronics Display Devices Indonesia, in
\nCibitung, West Java.<\/p>\n
"This kind of industry is beneficial to (the country's)
\ndevelopment because, besides strengthening the television and
\nmonitor industrial structure, it also encourages the production
\nof other television components," Soeharto said.<\/p>\n
The company is a fully-owned subsidiary of LG Group, formerly-
\nknown as Lucky-Goldstar Group, of South Korea, which was set up
\nin March with an initial investment of US$250 million.<\/p>\n
PT LG Electronics Display Devices Indonesia's president, Ki-
\nSeon Park, announced before the inauguration ceremony that the
\ncompany's TV tube production, technically known as cathode ray
\ntubes, comprises color display tubes and color picture tubes
\nunder the Goldstar brand.<\/p>\n
"We expect to produce three million units of cathode ray tubes
\nthis year and by the year 2000 we will expand the capacity to 6.7
\nmillion units per annum," Park said.<\/p>\n
Park said that besides TV tubes, the company has an annual
\ncapacity of 2 million videocassette recorders (VCRs), 600,000
\ncomputer monitors (MNT), 10.9 million electron guns (E\/G), 2
\nmillion depletion yokes and 2 million playback transformers
\n(FBT).<\/p>\n
"We will also expand the VCR production capacity to 2.5
\nmillion units, MNT to 2 million, E\/G to 10.9 million, depletion
\nyoke to 6.6 million and FBT to 5.0 million by the year 2000,"
\nPark said.<\/p>\n
He said that in line with capacity expansion, LG Group will
\ngradually increase its investment to approximately $450 million
\nby 2000.<\/p>\n
Commenting on the company's sales target, Park said "We have
\nprojected to book total sales revenues of $224 million this year,
\n$1.3 billion in 2000 and about $2.09 billion by 2005."<\/p>\n
He also said that although the company will sell no more than
\n25 percent of its production on the domestic market, it will be
\nable to gain 60 percent of the country's cathode ray tube market.<\/p>\n
Another cathode ray tube producer is Toshiba of Japan which
\nwill come on stream later this year.<\/p>\n
At yesterday's ceremony, Minister of Industry and Trade Tunky
\nAriwibowo said Indonesia still needs more investment in the
\nmanufacturing of electronic components to further deepen the
\ncountry's electronics industry.<\/p>\n
Tunky noted that although electronics exports are the
\ncountry's third largest foreign exchange earner, in terms of
\nvalue, after textiles and wood products, their imported contents
\nare still high.<\/p>\n
Last year, Indonesia's exports of electronic goods totaled
\nUS$2.9 billion, representing a 13.4 percent increase over the
\n$2.6 billion in the previous year.<\/p>\n
Indonesian electronic goods exports consist mainly of TV sets,
\nradio cassette recorders, videocassette recorders, and car audio
\nequipment.<\/p>\n
The large revenue from electronics exports, however, does not
\ncontribute much to Indonesia's balance of trade as most of the
\nexport earnings are erased by the importation of electronic
\ncomponents. Component imports stood at $2.3 billion last year and
\n$1.9 billion in 1994.<\/p>\n
These electronics imports mostly consist of components such as
\nTV tubes, capacitors and integrated circuits.<\/p>\n
Of the total electronics import value, Tunky said, Indonesia
\nspends over $250 million per annum for importing TV tubes only.<\/p>\n
Tunky added that the operation of LG Electronics is expected
\nto reduce the electronic industry's dependency on imported parts
\nand components.<\/p>\n
Tunky noted that the domestic demand for TV tubes would
\ncontinue to grow by 17 percent per annum until year 2000, far
\nhigher than the world's average growth of 5 percent. Meanwhile,
\nthe domestic demand for computer monitors is projected to
\nincrease by 20 percent per annum.<\/p>\n
This year alone, Tunky said, Indonesia will need some two
\nmillion TV tubes, and the demand will double by 2000. (alo\/rid)<\/p>",
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