Kiwi group to expand exports

JAKARTA (JP): Footwear, health and baby care manufacturer Kiwi Brands Indonesia, a subsidiary of the American-based Sara Lee Corporation, announced a plan to export products to Australia and the Philippines on Wednesday.

Kiwi managing director Don Gadsden said that the company would export 15 percent of its total output to the two countries this year. The strategy was prompted by the poorly performing domestic market.

Gadsden, also CEO of PT Prodenta Indonesia, a sister company of Kiwi, acknowledged that Kiwi's revenue dropped 30 percent last year. The company retains over 60 percent of the market share.

Indonesia remained a top priority for the group's business expansion in the region, he said.

"We have no reason to leave this country from which Kiwi has been operating for more than 30 years."

The company is funding an Indonesian community program, allocating 15 percent of its 1999 budget to sponsor scout activities and finance the publication of a 60-page full color scout handbook. The books will be distributed at no cost to 50,000 selected Indonesian scouts by the end of the month. (jsk)