Center for German firms to open in Serpong

TANGERANG (JP): A center for small and medium German companies will open next year in Bumi Serpong Damai, Tangerang, about 25 kilometers west of Jakarta.

The German Center for Industry and Trade will be the second of its kind set up in Asia after Singapore.

A ground-breaking ceremony for the center, called the German House in Indonesian, was held on the 1.6-hectare plot in Serpong on Tuesday.

"The German Center will form a bridge between German and Indonesian entrepreneurs," Walter Doering, Economics Minister and President of Baden-Wuerttemberg, one of Germany's 16 federal states, said Tuesday.

German envoy Heinrich Seemann and Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro attended the ceremony with Regent Saifullah Abdurrahman.

Minister Doering was accompanied by a delegation of business people.

The center is intended to be a one-stop service for small and medium German companies. It is financed by Landeskreditbank Baden-Wuerttemberg.

The bank, called L-Bank for short, claims to be one of Germany's 20 largest banks. It was represented by the Deputy Chairman of its board, Christian Brand.

The German Center was initiated by the German government and L-Bank.

Indonesia was said to be an attractive, growing market, "but German investments account for only three percent of total foreign investment in Indonesia," L-Bank said.

Investment for the center, scheduled for completion in October 1998, is around US$32 million. The eight-stories, including the basement, will give 2.49 hectares of space, 1.7 hectares will be leased out on two-year-minimum contracts.

Doering said the first center in Singapore was "a success story", and it catered to 130 German companies.

"Sixty more companies want to join," Doering said.

Envoy Seemann said the German Center would be the third facility representing Germany in Serpong. Earlier he officiated at a ground-breaking ceremony for the Deutsche Schule, which will move from Menteng, Central Jakarta.

The German Technopark will also open in Serpong, Seemann said.

Brand thanked the authorities for their quick service in granting permits for the center.

"We applied for permits last October and now we have begun digging. This is very quick compared to (time required) in Baden- Wuerttemberg," he said.

A source who requested anonymity said Serpong was chosen because land prices for the alternative site, Jagakarsa in South Jakarta, were too high.

"Jagakarsa is near Kemang, where land prices are high because of the international community there," the alumni from Germany said.

The center will be constructed by PT Econ Construction and supervised by ICM of Germany. Fifty percent of the materials will be imported from Germany. Construction costs are estimated at $686 per square meter.

Doering said the center was important for Baden-Wuerttemberg, which he said was very dependent on exports.

Seemann said the state, his "hometown," was one of the foremost states in establishing business links abroad. (anr)