ABF links lead to $666m in cooperation

ABF links lead to $666m in cooperation

JAKARTA (JP): Members of the ASEAN Business Forum (ABF), which
was established in 1991, have obtained business cooperation deals
worth more than US$666 million, according to an executive.

The cooperation will involve businessmen from member countries
of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), according
to ABF's president, Aburizal Bakrie of Indonesia, as quoted by
Kompas on Saturday. He was speaking in Singapore after an annual
meeting of the forum.

About 400 businessmen representing 160 ABF member companies
attended the meeting.

Aburizal said that the cooperation involved joint venture and
technical assistance activities among ABF members. They generally
focus their cooperation in the manufacturing, banking and
infrastructure sectors.

The companies involved in such cooperation include the Bakrie
Group, the MBf Group, Singapore Technologies, Siam Motors, the
Dharmala Group, General Electrics, The Hour Glass Ltd., Lee Kim
Tah, the KPN Group and Siam Steel Pipes.

For example, Malaysia's Diversified Resource Bhd, the
Philippines' Ama Group and Indonesia's Dharmala Group had
established a joint venture with a Singaporean company in
Singapore.

Bukaka Teknik of Indonesia and Sikap Management of Malaysia
are also cooperating in a transnational power project worth $200
million in Sumatra.

In addition, Bukaka Teknik and two other Indonesian companies,
in cooperation with Tenaga Nasional of Malaysia will establish a
power plant worth $1 billion in Renong, Malaysia.

ABF's membership is comprised of 160 companies, mostly from
Indonesia and Malaysia.

Aburizal said that the forum would suggest that the ASEAN
governments ease restrictions on immigration and customs
procedures to boost trade and investment cooperation among the
association's members.(31)