ISO-9000 recipients

JAKARTA (JP): Only 70 companies in Indonesia have thus far received IS0-9000 quality and management certification, far less than the number in neighboring countries, says a senior surveyor.

P. Djoko Tjiptadi, a director of PT Sucofindo, the state-owned surveyor company, said yesterday that the number of ISO-9000 certificate recipients in other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is much higher, reaching 400 in Malaysia and over 500 in Singapore.

"Most Indonesian companies still pay more attention on marketing rather than improving the quality of their products," he said in Medan.

Speaking at a seminar on the ISO-9000 quality and management certification, Djoko was quoted yesterday by Antara as saying that the marketing of products and the improvement of quality would be of similar importance.

"Adopting the international quality standards is not mandatory but it is the only answer in facing the free market era," he said.(hen)