LG Pumps to set up plant

JAKARTA (JP): South Korean company LG Pumps plans to invest US$10 million in a factory in West Java to strengthen its market position in Indonesia and neighboring countries, the company's sales director Chang In Suk announced on Friday.

Chang said the plant, which will have a monthly production capacity of 80,000 water pumps, was scheduled to begin supplying the Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese and Philippine markets in late 2001.

He said LG Pumps and its local partner PT Aditya Sarana Graha would step up their marketing efforts to increase the LG pump market share, which as a consequence of the economy's downturn declined from 26 percent prior to the economic crisis to only 10 percent this year.

Aditya Sarana president Haris Chandra said the LG pumps, which sold 15,000 units over the past eight months, were expected to increase their sales to 60,000 units next year. (06)