56 Indonesian firms go to Africa

56 Indonesian firms go to Africa

JAKARTA: A total of 56 Indonesian export-oriented companies
have and will participate in trade expos to be held in Namibia,
South Africa and Tunisia respectively.

The National Exports Development Body (BPEN) of the Ministry
of Industry and Trade said in a statement that of 56 firms, 18
will take part in the "South African International Trade
Exhibition" to be held in Johannesburg from Oct. 1 to Oct. 5.

Twenty seven firms have left for Namibia's capital of Windhoek
to participate in the Windhoek Agricultural and Industrial Show"
from Sept. 27 to Oct. 5.

Another 11 firms will go to Tunis to take part in the "Tunis
International Fair" that will be held from Oct. 18 to Oct. 27.

BPEN said the participation of the Indonesian firms in the
expos aimed to increase exports into the three countries.

Today, Indonesian exports to South Africa include glassware,
plastic products, sports equipment, pharmaceutical products,
dining table, sweets, kitchenware, furniture, automotive
products, cooking oil, paper products and rattan products.

Indonesian exports to Tunisia include textile, coffee, cement,
soap, furniture, margarine and paper products.

The agency did not specify Indonesian exports to Namibia -- JP

Astra Sedaya plans Rp 300b bond

JAKARTA : PT Astra Sedaya Finance, an Indonesian auto-leasing
firm, plans to issue Rp 300 billion in three-year bonds in the
first quarter of next year to refinance its maturing debt.

Its Marketing and Operation Director Hendra Sugiharto told
reporters during the weekend that the company will have to redeem
Rp 300 billion worth of bonds, which it issued in 2000, in March
next year.

Other details about the proposed bond weren't available, he
said.

Astra Sedaya is a joint venture between auto maker Astra
International and GE Capital, a unit of General Electric (GE).

In May, the company issued Rp 400 billion in bonds with a
coupon rate of 18.75 percent to support its car financing
business. The bond received good response amid declining interest
rates in Indonesia.

Falling interest rates have prompted a slew of local companies
to issue bonds this year at a time when most banks are still
reluctant to lend. --Dow Jones

Mitsubishi may shift AUV production

MANILA : Mitsubishi Motors Corp. of Japan may transfer its Asian
utility vehicle (AUV) production in Indonesia to the Philippines
as part of its rationalization program, the Philippine Daily
Inquirer reports, citing an unnamed source.

The move is expected to shore up the Philippines' bid to
become the AUV production hub in Asia, with other AUV makers such
as Japan's Toyota Motor Corp. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. keen on
exporting these hybrid vehicles - a cross between a utility
vehicle and a sedan - from their Philippine factories.

The source said that based on initial discussions, Mitsubishi
would continue to serve the AUV market in Indonesia by importing
units assembled at its Philippine plant.

There is a steady shift in demand from commercial vehicles to
passenger cars in Indonesia after that country's government
reduced taxes on sedans.

The source said Mitsubishi reasoned that the Filipinos'
preference for AUVs has made the vehicle the most popular model
in the Philippines. --Dow Jones

Ford to slash costs in three years

PARIS : Ford intends to slash costs arising before the
manufacturing process by about two billion dollars (euros) by
2005, the president of Ford Europe, David Thursfield, said in the
Financial Times on Monday.

The cost cutting would occur mainly through improvements in
conception and design and less through pressure on parts
suppliers to reduce prices, he said.

The Ford group, based in the United States but with interests
worldwide, was still restructuring its business in Europe, which
involved the closure of its assembly plant at Dagenham in
England, he said.

Thursfield said that even though the company had dealt with
its problem of fixed costs, it still faced difficulties with
variable costs. --AFP

U.S. Fidelity set to cut 3,000 jobs

PARIS : The U.S. investment group Fidelity is to announce on
Tuesday that it is cutting 3,000 jobs or 10 percent of its
workforce, the Financial Times newspaper reported on Monday.

Fidelity has already cut between one and two percent of its
workforce involved in on-line stock trading, owing to weak
conditions on stock markets.

The newspaper said the forthcoming cuts would affect mainly
investment management activities.

The newspaper said Fidelity's turnover had fallen from US$11.2
billion (11.4 billion euros) in 2000 to $9.2 billion last year
and was likely to slide further to $8.2 billion in 2002.

Fidelity managers had to face the one-billion-dollar slump in
turnover at the same time as cutting costs by the same amount,
the newspaper quoted an anonymous source at Fidelity as saying.
--AFP

Fast Retailing opens stores in Shanghai

TOKYO : Japan's Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. said Monday it had opened
two Uniqlo discount clothing stores in Shanghai in its first move
into China.

The openings follow the opening of the first overseas Uniqlo
stores in London last year.

Fast Retailing has factories in China which make clothes for
more than 500 stores in Japan.

The company, which specializes in cheap casual wear, has seen
sales slump at its Japanese outlets but it has high hopes for the
Chinese market.

"There are no companies like ours in China that produce and
sell clothes on their own," company spokesman Terunobu Aono said.

"China also has a large population and a very high rate of
growth. In the distant future, we think it will be a bigger
market for us than Japan," he said. --AFP

Intel to remain profitable : CEO

DUBAI : U.S. computer chip giant Intel will remain profitable
despite the worst recession to hit the information technology
sector in 30 years, the corporation's chief executive officer
said Sunday.

"I expect we'll emerge stronger than we went in," Craig
Barrett told a press conference in the Gulf emirate of Dubai.

Barrett described the current recession as "deeper and
stronger than the nine-and-a-half previous ones I have gone
through with Intel since 1974.

I call this one a half because we're going down and we haven't
come back yet.

"It is probably the most dramatic recession I've seen for the
last 30 years, (but) not the worst one for Intel," which he said
was in 1985.

Barrett attributed the recession to a "synchronized slow-down
of the world's established economies. That doesn't happen very
often ... The last time it happened was about 30 years ago.

"We're (also) still experiencing the hangover of the dot.com
explosion and meltdown," as well as the fallout of the "Y2K
investment problem". -- AFP