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)