Astra to produce vehicles in China and Vietnam

JAKARTA (JP): PT Astra International -- the country's largest automotive manufacturer -- has established two joint-venture companies in China and Vietnam to produce Daihatsu Zebra and Daihatsu Espas cars, the company's executives said on Wednesday.

"We will produce 5,000 units of the new model, Daihatsu Espas minibus, in the first year of operations starting next June," Darmawan, a manager of the Astra export division said. Darmawan added that the assembling company, a joint venture between Daihatsu of Japan, Astra International Liu Zhou and Naga Pacific Hong Kong, is located in China's province of Liu Zhou.

He said that another Astra joint company in Hanoi, Vietnam, will start producing 600 Zebra pickup trucks in Feb. 1996 which will gradually increase to 6,000 annually in the eighth year.

The assembly plant in Hanoi is a joint venture with Vietnamese UMECT, Daihatsu Motor Company of Japan and PT Mitra Andasantika.

Darmawan said that Espas minibus exports will start in October to Malaysia, initially with a monthly shipment of 80 units which will gradually be increased to 1,000 per month starting next year.

The export of Toyota Kijangs to Brunei, Papua New Guinea, Fiji and Bangladesh within the first semester totaled 452 vans, he added.

Meanwhile, vice president of Astra International Palgunadi T. Setyawan told reporters at the company's stand at the ongoing Indonesian Product Expo here that Astra has been spending two percent of its net profit for venture capital and another two percent for the Yayasan Dharma Bhakti Astra, a foundation which specializes in assisting small-and-medium scale industries.

Astra has so far assisted 787 small casting companies throughout the country. Thirty of the small firms are participating in the Product Expo together with 25 subsidiaries of Astra.(kod)