Joint venture to produce dental gear

JAKARTA (JP): A joint venture of the Yoshida Dental Group of Japan and the Semoga Group of Indonesia will construct a plant in Bekasi east of here to produce 2,000 sets of dental care equipment per month.

Semoga's president, Sunardjo Sumargono, said yesterday that 80 percent of the products will be exported to Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines, while the rest will be marketed domestically.

Sunardjo noted that the plant's construction, to cost US$15 million, will be financed with loans and equity, of which Semoga and Yoshida share 50 percent each.

When asked about the total amount of the loans, Sunardjo declined to explain, saying it is still being negotiated with the banks interested in the project.

M. Yamanaka, president of Yoshida, said the plant will be constructed on a 26,000 square-meter plot in the Lippo City industrial estate in Bekasi.

Sunardjo noted that Yoshida products have been popular here since the Japanese rule in the 1940s. "Almost all Indonesian universities which have medical faculties use Yoshida dentistry equipment."

In addition to dental equipment, the plant will also produce X-ray equipment, most of which will be exported as well.

Sunardjo said that in the first year of operation, the plant will procure 10 percent of its components from domestic producers. The local contents will be increased to 50 percent in following years.

"We are actually capable of procuring more than 10 percent of the components locally in the first year of operation, such as voltage regulators, cables and the seats for patients," Sunardjo said.

He added that next year, his warehouse in Sunter, North Jakarta, will provisionally assemble 50 sets of dentistry equipment per month until the start of the operation of the Bekasi plant.

When asked, Sunardjo said that his company will likely sell its products at around Rp 35 million (US16,100) per set. (rid)