Consortium needed to enter Europe

Consortium needed to enter Europe

JAKARTA (JP): An Indonesian-Netherlands consortium should be
set up to make the most of the opportunities and facilities
offered by the Netherlands for Indonesian exports to the European
market, according to a prominent Indonesian entrepreneur.

Tanri Abeng, president of Bakrie & Brothers, a business group
controlled by Aburizal Bakrie, told a seminar on "Trade and
Investment Opportunities in the Netherlands" here on Wednesday
that such a consortium would be able to use seaports in the
Netherlands as a gateway to the European market.

The seminar, organized by Moret Ernst & Young, ABN-AMRO Bank
and the Indonesian Netherlands Association, was attended by
Indonesian and Dutch businessmen and officials.

"What we really need is a business entity, not an
association," Tanri said, suggesting that the Indonesian
companies which would join the consortium would be those which
are market oriented.

He said many Indonesian companies were still family-managed,
so that business decisions are made by one person and business
strategy is often based on lobbying.

However, he said that an increasing number of Indonesian
companies were now being professionally managed with global
business vision.

He said that the Netherlands offered a number of business
facilities, including strategic seaports and efficient
distribution networks that could be used as the beach-head to
enter the European market.

He said that the Bakrie & Brothers business group would be the
first to seize on the opportunity by establishing a joint venture
in warehousing.(32)