Firms with deep roots prosper

Firms with deep roots prosper

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The relationship between Britain and Indonesia started four
centuries ago, when Francis Drake, the first British navigator to
sail to the archipelago, arrived before the Dutch in the fabled
Spice Islands of Maluku in 1579.

Business has played a key role in the relationship ever since,
said Richard Mann in his book 400 Years and More of the British
in Indonesia.

British companies started to enter what is now Indonesia in
the 19th century, continued to blossom in the 20th and 21st
centuries, only being interrupted by World War II.

Among the pioneering British firms that came into Indonesia
and maintain a presence today include oil and gas company Shell,
banks Standard Chartered and Hongkong and Shanghai Banking
Corporation (HSBC), tobacco company British American Tobacco
(BAT) and consumer products company Unilever.

Shell Companies in Indonesia (SCI) first arrived here 120
years ago when oil was first discovered in the Dutch East Indies.

Shell's origins date back to 1833 in London, but it only
entered the oil industry in 1890 and found itself in competition
with Royal Dutch. In 1907, the two companies merged to form the
Royal Dutch/Shell Group.

SCI is currently represented in downstream oil products and in
gas and power, including solar power.

In the banking sector, Standard Chartered opened its first
office here in 1863.

Standard Chartered is named after two banks which merged in
1969: the Standard Bank of British South Africa and the Chartered
Bank of India, Australia and China. Of the two banks, the
Chartered Bank was the older, having been founded in 1853
following the grant of a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria.

Standard Chartered has now strengthened its presence in the
country by buying a stake at Permata Bank.

"The investment stake in Permata Bank is strong evidence of
the banks ongoing commitment and confidence in the country," said
Simon Morris, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank
Indonesia.

HSBC has been in the country for more than 120 years.
Initially started to serve the important sugar trade, HSBC opened
its first Indonesian office in Jakarta in 1884, then expanded its
operation to Surabaya in 1896. In 1994, HSBC upgraded its
Semarang agency, which has been operating since 1878, into a full
branch.

Tobacco company BAT, meanwhile, entered Indonesia in 1917,
when BAT's representative, the NV Indo Egyptian Cigarette
Company, bought Mishell, a Dutch-owned tobacco company in Cirebon
in what was then the Dutch East Indies.

Now BAT not only produces cigarettes for the local market, but
also grows tobaccos for BAT plants worldwide.

"Indonesia produces very good tobacco. And we export our
tobacco to BAT in other countries, including Singapore, Australia
and Germany," said Ian Morton, president director of BAT
Indonesia.

Anglo-Dutch firm Unilever has been operating in Indonesia for
over 70 years. Since its establishment in 1933, Unilever
Indonesia has been one of the largest consumer goods business in
the country.

Granted, it is nice to know that there are a number of British
firms with long histories in the country. But that is not enough
for a country that is hungry for foreign investment. It has to
work hard to attract more British firms to the country, as young
Drakes of the modern world are now racing for "Spice Islands"
elsewhere, namely in China, India and eastern Europe.