KL keen on buying IPTN shares: Report

JAKARTA (JP): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has expressed his government's intention to buy shares in PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara, Indonesia's state-owned light aircraft manufacturer.

The Malaysian prime minister said that his government is keen to purchase a small portion of IPTN stocks to support the financing of the Indonesian aircraft company.

The promise was made last week during his visit to the IPTN pavilion at the Paris Air Show, in response to Indonesian State Minister for Research B.J. Habibie's offer, the Antara news agency reported Saturday.

Habibie told Mahathir that the equity participation of the Malaysian government is needed to back up the operation of the Indonesian aircraft company, which is now preparing its assembling plants in the United States and Germany.

Habibie said that another alternative in supporting the aircraft company's financing is to generate public funds through the sales of the company's stocks.

"If two million Indonesians, or about one percent of the country's population buy IPTN shares, at an average spending of US$1,000 each, there will be about $2 billion worth of fresh funds available," he said. "That sum is significant to develop IPTN."

IPTN plans to establish an assembling plant at Alabama in the United States, to support its marketing network in North America, and another assembling plant in a German city, to back up its marketing in Europe.

Habibie, who was accompanied by Transportation Minister Haryanto Dhanutirto in the German visit, said that the test flight for IPTN's N-250 aircraft, the latest type of its light commuter airplanes, would be carried out on Aug. 15.

"An Airbus pilot has been in Indonesia since last October, to test the airplane," he added.

During the visit, Habibie presented the Malaysian prime minister a model of the N-2130, a new type to be developed by IPTN in the future.

The N-2130 is designed by Ilham, Habibie's son, who is now working for Boeing. IPTN is expected to start the production of the new 130-seat aircraft by the year 2000.(hen)