ABB remains upbeat amid revenue drop

JAKARTA (JP): Power company Asea Brown Boveri AG (ABB) of Germany remains upbeat over its future business prospects in Indonesia although its revenue here decreased by half to US$228 million in 1998.

"Indonesia is still a market with plenty of potential for growth and is therefore a key market -- in spite of the crisis," the chairman of ABB Germany, Horst Dietz, said on Monday at the TECHNOGERMA Export Trade Fair.

He said that about $60 million worth of projects ABB had received from the private sector were delayed, but he was confident that a number of the projects would resume.

"ABB has expressed its interest to the Indonesian government in participating in the future Java-Bali island interconnection project which might begin when the crisis is over," Dietz said.

He is optimistic about the continued development of Indonesia, stressing that the current crisis is a temporary obstacle.

Recently, ABB built a 1,095 megawatt combined heating and power plant in Muara Tawar, West Java.

ABB has received a number of contracts from state-owned power company PLN since 1972, mainly involving the construction of power stations, overhead power lines and high-voltage switching stations.

The company has built around 3,000 kilometers of overhead power lines in Indonesia.

ABB currently employed about 27,000 people in Asia, including 1,600 in Indonesia, he said, adding that 85 percent of its Indonesian projects were financed by international donors.

ABB is one of the 194 exhibitors at TECHNOGERMA Jakarta '99, the German trade and technology fair which is being held from March 1 to March 7 at the Jakarta Convention Center.

The exhibition is organized by the German Federal Ministry of Economics, which is financially sponsoring the event, as well as the Exhibition and Trade Fair Committee of the German Trade and Industrial Association, with the support of the German-Indonesian Chamber of Industry and Commerce of Jakarta.(02)