Kijang wins ICSA for fifth time

Kijang wins ICSA for fifth time

JAKARTA: The Toyota Kijang Innova won the Indonesian Customer
Satisfaction Award (ICSA) in the non-sedan category for the fifth
consecutive year. The award was presented by SWA magazine, in
cooperation with the Frontier research institution and
SWANETWORK.

The ICSA survey was conducted in six major cities -- Jakarta,
Bandung, Semarang, Surabaya, Medan and Makassar -- and involved
10,500 respondents between the ages of 15 and 65.

"The award, the fifth year in a row, proves that Toyota has
consistently maintained customer satisfaction," said PT Toyota
Astra Motor president director Johnny Darmawan.

"The award will boost our efforts to improve our product
quality, as well as our after-sales services," he said.

Toyota Astra Motor sold a total of 57,488 units of the Innova
from January to August this year, a 76 percent increase over the
32,552 units sold in the same period last year. The company sold
a total of 54,857 units of the Innova in 2004. -- JP

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Brief-Steel-maker
Steel maker to be built in Karawang
JP/14/Brief

Steel plant to be
built in Karawang

JAKARTA: A joint venture agreement was signed last weekend on
the establishment of a steelmaker in the West Java industrial
town of Karawang.

The agreement was signed by two South Korean firms -- Daewo
International Corporation and IS Steel -- and a local producer of
automotive and machinery components, publicly listed PT Selamat
Sempurna, according to a media statement.

The new company, which will occupy a two-hectare plot of land,
is expected to manufacture up to 120,000 metric tons of steel a
year. It will reportedly receive start-up capital of US$10
million.

Daewo will hold a 51 percent stake in the new firm, while
Selamat Sempurna and IS Steel will have 40 percent and 9 percent
stakes, respectively. -- JP

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Brief-MAS-system
Malaysia Airlines to save 40 million dollars a year with new syst
JP/14/BRIEF

MAS to save
$40m a year

KUALA LUMPUR: Flag-carrier Malaysian Airlines (MAS) said on
Monday it expected to save 150 million ringgit (US$40 million) a
year after it switches to a new aviation management system by
Lockheed Martin.

"The potential fuel and operational cost savings to be derived
with the introduction of the new system is in the region of 150
million ringgit per annum, after the project is fully launched by
the middle of 2006," said Nawawi Awang, Malaysia Airlines' senior
general manager of flight operations.

He was speaking to reporters following the signing of an
agreement with Lockheed Martin here.

The contract, which has a start-up cost of 11 million ringgit,
calls for an integrated technology suite to be installed at the
flight operations dispatch center, located at the Kuala Lumpur
International Airport, by June 2006, the carrier said in a
statement.

The airline recently announced one of its worst ever quarterly
losses at 280.66 million ringgit in the three months to June
after a profit of 26.58 million ringgit a year earlier.

After the results, Malaysia Airlines announced an ambitious
five-year plan to boost profits by up to one billion ringgit,
including shaking up its management. -- AFP

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Brief-UCO-bank
India's UCO Bank returns to Malaysia
JP/14/BRIEF

UCO Bank returns
to Malaysia

SINGAPORE: UCO Bank, the oldest Indian bank in Singapore,
marked its return to Malaysia after 36 years with the opening of
a representative office on Monday in Kuala Lumpur.

"India's rapid economic growth and its equally rapidly growing
business links with Southeast Asia and East Asia provide a new
opportunity for our bank to expand in the region," UCO's chairman
and managing director told The Straits Times.

V. Sridar also said that UCO had applied to the Chinese
central bank to open a representative office in Guangzhou.

"We used to have four branches in Malaysia until 1969, when we
were forced to exit," Sridar was quoted as saying.

He noted that Singapore was to be UCO's hub as the bank moved
beyond the traditional trade finance business and ethnic Indian
clientele to reach out to other areas.

UCO is headquartered in Calcutta, capital of West Bengal
province in eastern India.

"As more Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese businessmen go to
India, we are in a position to offer them a wide variety of
banking services," Sridar said.

UCO's nationwide network consists of 1,730 branches. -- DPA