Honda to set up RI venture

Honda to set up RI venture

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Honda Motor Co. Ltd. said yesterday it would set up a joint venture in Indonesia to produce and sell general-purpose engines, generators and water pumps.

Honda would have a 60 percent stake in the venture, PT Sinar Honda Jaya, while local partner PT Wajamakmur Mandiri will hold the balance, Honda said in a statement.

The venture would be based in West Java and capitalized at about 230 million yen (US$2 million). Production was due to start in June 1997.

The new plant would be built at Bukit Indah, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) from Jakarta, with total output set at more than 100,000 units a year, it said.

Initial production would be sold in Indonesia only, but the company plans to export the products in the future in the region of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

ASEAN groups Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.