Japan makes noodles in RI

Japan makes noodles in RI

TOKYO (AFP): Japan's Myojo Foods Co. Ltd. plans to start
producing instant noodles at its joint venture with Indonesia's
Salim group in March, aiming for 20 percent of the local market,
a spokesman said yesterday.

The spokesman said PT Myojo Prima Lestari, set up in Jakarta
in September, would have an initial production capacity of
100,000 packets a day and was aiming for annual sales of one
billion yen (US$10 million) by 1996.

Myojo holds 30 percent of the company, which is capitalized at
$2.5 million. Japanese trading house Mitsui and Co. Ltd. holds 10
percent, while the remaining 60 percent is held by PT Prima
Intipangan Sejati, an investment subsidiary of the Salim group's
India Food Co. Ltd.

The spokesman said the partners eventually aimed to capture 20
percent of the Indonesian market for instant noodles, estimated
at 3.6 billion packets a year and which is expected to grow by up
to 10 percent a year.

Myojo, among the top four manufacturers of instant noodles in
Japan, already has affiliates in Thailand, Malaysia and
Singapore. Listed on the second section of the Tokyo Stock
Exchange, the company has consolidated sales of more than 60
billion yen a year.