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.