ICAC linkups to improve air cargo services
ICAC linkups to improve air cargo services
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesia Air Cargo Agents Club (ICAC)
signed on Thursday memorandum of understanding agreements with
Soewarna Commercial Park, the Association of Indonesian Express
Services (Asperindo) and PT Aplikanusa Lintasarta (Lintasarta) to
optimize the quality and competitiveness of their cargo services.
ICAC's chairman Jan Ramli said under the agreement the
Soewarna Commercial Park, an integrated business district located
within the Soekarno-Hatta Airport complex, would facilitate all
ICAC member needs.
The nearly completed 102-hectare commercial park, due for
completion in the year 2000, will create advantages for ICAC
members as a result of the prime location, office space and
warehouse facilities, he said.
The commercial park is owned and developed by PT Sanggraha
Daksamitra, a subsidiary of Japan's Nisso Iwai Corporation. The
park will offer integrated warehouses, office buildings, factory
outlets, an export commodity center, retail opportunities, an 18-
hole golf course, a restaurant and the five-star Sheraton Bandara
Hotel.
Asperindo's chairman Rudy Pesik said under the agreement his
company would cooperate with ICAC in the field of education and
organization development.
"Cooperation is necessary to improve our efficiency, our human
resources, our assets and technologies in order to strengthen our
position, as we face tight competition in this free trade era,"
he said.
Lintasarta's president Taufik Akbar said under the agreement,
his organization and ICAC would jointly develop a national
distribution center to provide a cargo community service to
Indonesian cargo agents.
He said services would include airline reservation
computerization services, electronic communications with
international airlines and services to track delivery of goods.
Minister of Communications Giri Suseno Hadihardjono said the
new agreements would enable Indonesian cargo businesses to be
more competitive.
"In the free trade era, the most competitive products are
products of high quality and low cost. To be more competitive,
Indonesian cargo businesses have to lower their costs by making
their activities more efficient.
"Cooperating with related parties who provide facilities to
speed up the flow of goods, such as warehousing facilities,
hotels, retail and communications (organizations) will reduce
costs and in the end make our services more competitive."
Giri said the total cargo volume in Indonesia declined 7
percent in 1998 to 297,000 tons from 300,000 tons in 1997 due to
the economic crisis.
Over 50 percent of airfreight left from Soekarno Hatta
Airport, making it necessary to develop the airport with
supporting facilities, including a commercial park.
The minister believed cargo volume would surge in the future,
in line with a recovery in the country's economy. (gis)