Kiwi group to expand exports

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)