Telkom, Indosat shareholders meetings to go on<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed telecommunications companies PT
\nTelkom and PT Indosat will go ahead with their plans to hold
\nshareholders meetings on Thursday despite the call from the House
\nof Representatives to postpone the meetings.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal Ramli said on
\nWednesday that the government had decided to let both companies
\ngo ahead with their shareholders' meetings.<\/p>\n
The minister said that the two companies would also not change
\nthe meeting agenda, which includes the proposed US$1.5 billion
\ntransaction to eliminate their cross ownership.<\/p>\n
\"How would it look (to the world) if a (public company's)
\nshareholders' meeting is determined by the legislature?\" he told
\nthe media after a meeting with the management of Telkom and
\nIndosat.<\/p>\n
He again stressed the termination of the two companies' cross
\nownership was necessary for the two companies to become full-
\nfledged telecommunications operators, as outlined in the
\ngovernment's telecommunications blue print.<\/p>\n
Ramli, Minister of Communications Agum Gumelar, Director
\nGeneral of State-owned Enterprises I. Nyoman Tjager, as well the
\ndirectors of Telkom and Indosat, met on Wednesday morning to
\ndiscuss the House's request.<\/p>\n
Also present at the meeting were representatives of Telkom
\nWorkers Union (Sekar).<\/p>\n
The House's joint team comprising Commission IV for
\ninfrastructure and transportation, and Commission IX for
\nfinancial and development planning urged the government to delay
\nthe two telecommunications giants' shareholders meeting until the
\nteam announced its stance on the transactions.<\/p>\n
The team and the government officials planned to hold a
\nmeeting on Tuesday to discuss the controversial transactions
\nbetween Indosat and Telkom. However, the meeting was canceled due
\nto the absence of Minister of Finance Prijadi Praptosuhardjo, who
\nwas attending a meeting of the Asian Development Bank in
\nHonolulu, Hawaii.<\/p>\n
Telkom's vice president for corporate communications Dodi
\nAmarudien said postponing a shareholders' meeting would not only
\ngreatly damage the country's image in the eyes of the
\ninternational community, but also reduce foreign investors'
\nconfidence in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"In addition, the price of Telkom's and Indosat's stocks would
\nalso drop,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Telkom and Indosat shares fell to Rp 2,425 and Rp 8,300
\nrespectively at intraday trading on Wednesday but later rebounded
\nafter Rizal's statement that the shareholders' meetings would not
\nbe postponed. Telkom ended the day lower at Rp 2,475, compared to
\nRp 2,500 at the previous day's close, while Indosat gained Rp 150
\nto close at Rp 8,700.<\/p>\n
Telkom and Indosat agreed in February to a series of
\ntransactions amounting to $1.5 billion to effectively terminate
\ntheir cross ownerships in several telecommunication companies,
\nincluding cellular operators PT Telkomsel and PT Satelit Palapa
\nIndonesia (Satelindo).<\/p>\n
Included in the deal is the acquisition of Telkom's assets and
\noperations in Central Java and Yogyakarta by Indosat for $375
\nmillion. The operation in the region is jointly managed by Telkom
\nand PT Mitra Global Telekomunikasi Indonesia (MGTI).<\/p>\n
This particular transaction brought strong reactions from
\nTelkom's employees in the region, who feared massive layoffs
\nwould result from the takeover.<\/p>\n
Telkom employees in Central Java and Yogyakarta under the
\nTelkom Workers' Union (Sekar) launched a four-day strike
\nbeginning last Tuesday calling for the cancellation of the
\ntransaction.<\/p>\n
More than 1,000 workers arrived from Central Java and
\nYogyakarta on Wednesday to demonstrate in front of the office of
\nthe Coordinating Minister for the Economy.<\/p>\n
\"Central Java for Telkom! ... Central Java for Telkom!\" they
\nyelled, each one wearing a headband with a picture of a crossed-
\nout MOU (memorandum of understanding) on it.<\/p>\n
The demonstrators then moved on to the office of the Minister
\nof Communications.<\/p>\n
Dodi Amarudien told journalists that they had come to a
\ncompromise with Sekar regarding the Central Java and Yogyakarta
\nregion.<\/p>\n
\"There will be more talks regarding the transaction from (the
\ntime of the) meeting until the closing date for the transaction
\nat the end of January 2002,\" he said, adding that although that
\nparticular transaction would not be removed from the meeting's
\nagenda, Sekar would have a say in determining the prerequisites
\nof the transaction.<\/p>\n
Chairman of Sekar's Central Java and Yogyakarta chapter
\nSyahrul Akhyar, after the meeting, asked the demonstrators to go
\nback to their base at Asrama Haji in Pondok Gede, East Jakarta,
\nsaying he will negotiate with the directors of Telkom about the
\ndetails of their role in the shareholders' meeting. (tnt)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/telkom-indosat-shareholders-meetings-to-go-on-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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