Habibie stresses IPTN to continue its operations

Habibie stresses IPTN to continue its operations

JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Research and Technology B.J.
Habibie said yesterday that state-owned aircraft manufacturer PT
IPTN was financially healthy enough to continue operating.

Addressing the opening ceremony of a seminar on aeronautics,
Habibie said there were no logical reasons to terminate IPTN's
production activities.

"How can people say that IPTN has brought the country to
bankruptcy?" he said, "They should give me the reasons."

Habibie, also the president of IPTN, said the company's total
sales had showed an upward trend since its establishment in 1976.

"IPTN's total sales since 1976 are US$2.464 billion, while its
total investment has been $1.308 billion," he said.

He said the company's total sales included revenue from the
sale of IPTN-made airplanes, armor systems and helicopters, and
from subcontracting projects as well as research and development
fees for the N-250 and N-2130 jet planes.

Commenting on the continuation of IPTN's production activities
despite the government's statement last month that it would stop
its funding to the company, Habibie said IPTN would not be
affected at all because it was already self-sufficient.

"We'll suggest our customers open L/Cs (letters of credit) on
signing a purchase agreement with IPTN."

"The L/Cs will be used to finance the construction, including
the procurement of components, of the CN-235 and the N-250
airplanes," he said.

The Bandung-based company is working on the construction of
the 40-seat CN-235 commuter aircraft.

It is currently testing a 70-seat N-250 turboprop and has
plans to spend $2 billion on developing a 130-seat N-2130
passenger jet.

Asked about the construction of the N-2130, Habibie said it
would mainly rest with the government-sponsored PT DSTP to look
for financial supporters.

"The N-2130 project will not involve the state budget at all,"
he said.

He quoted President Soeharto, who said last month that the
plan to develop Indonesia's own N-2130 jet plane project would
continue even without state funding or assistance.

The President said Indonesia must sustain its aircraft
manufacturing capability because of a growing domestic demand for
planes, still the best mode of transportation for an archipelagic
state.

"If we can't do it, then we can work with foreign parties.
China, Australia and Taiwan have expressed interest," Soeharto
said, hinting that a European plane consortium, Airbus Industrie,
may also possibly be interested in forging links with IPTN.

Habibie denied the allegation that IPTN was an inefficient
drain on the state's resources.

"Developing an aircraft industry has been part of the
government's longtime efforts to establish its own commercial
airplane manufacturer," he said.

He said the government's seriousness to build an aircraft
industry was seen when it sent the first batch of Indonesia's
best students to study airplane construction and aeronautics in
Delf, the Netherlands, between 1951 and 1954.

The second batch of students, to learn the same subjects, were
sent to Germany between 1954 and 1958. This group included
Habibie.

In accordance with the country's shifting political alliances,
he said, the country sent the third batch of students to the then
Czechoslovakia and former Soviet Union. Included in the group
were deputy chairman of the National Development Planning Board,
Rahardi Ramelan, and the chairman of the Antara News Agency,
Handjojo Nitimihardjo. (imn/prb)