Hungarian bus maker wins $60-million deal

JAKARTA (JP): Hungarian Ikarus Vehicle Manufacturing Co said yesterday it had secured a contract to sell 100 gas-fueled buses to the state-owned transportation company PPD.

Ikarus's president Gabor Szeles said the buses were ordered by the Ministry of Transportation and would soon be delivered to PPD.

The US$60 million contract was signed Monday, he said.

"The buses will be delivered to the state-owned public transportation company PPD to be used in Jakarta," he said.

Szeles said the gas-fueled buses were appropriate for Jakarta because they would cause less pollution.

He said the contract followed the sale of the first 40 sets of the Hungarian Ikarus buses to PPD in March.

Szeres, who is also a chairman of the Hungarian Industrialist Association, said his company planned to set up an assembly plant in Indonesia to tap the growing demand for buses in the country.

"Our team will make further studies in the next two or three months. We hope the plan will be realized by the beginning of next year," he said.

Ikarus, which is the largest bus producer in Hungary, has produced more than 200,000 buses, with production capacity about 5,000 to 6,000 buses per year.

Ikarus has exported 50 buses to Malaysia, 3,200 buses to China, 50 buses to Vietnam and 550 buses to Taiwan.

The Hungarian Embassy yesterday briefed reporters on the Hungarian trade mission's three-day visit here.

The trade delegation, led by minister in charge of privatization Judith Csiha, arrived here Sunday.

The 12-member-delegation included several leaders from the Hungarian Privatization and State Holding Company, General Managers of the Hungarian Development Bank, chairman of the Hungarian Industrialist Association and businesspeople from different companies.

The delegation met senior Indonesian officials, including the minister of investment, minister of trade and industry, minister of transportation, the director general for foreign economic relations of the ministry of foreign affairs and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. (08)