Metropolitan, Hitachi sign deal

JP/afs

JAKARTA (JP): Japan's Hitachi Ltd has agreed to provide technical assistance to PT Metropolitan Bayu Industri, an air conditioner maker in Karawang, West Java.

Hitachi, under an agreement signed here yesterday, will transfer its latest technology to Metropolitan Bayu's plant.

Metropolitan Bayu executive director John Budi Harjanto said the plant, now under construction, would become Indonesia's first air conditioner plant to produce air cooled chillers.

In the picture, Japan's Hitachi Ltd director Taketoshi Yamauchi (right) received a sandalwood statue from PT Metropolitan Bayu Industri's president director, Soekrisman (left) after the signing of the technical agreement.

John said the country had many air conditioner factories but they only produced split, window and central-system air conditioners.

Air cooled chillers are an integrated air conditioning machine for hotels, factories and high-rise buildings.

He said the plant, on two hectares at the Metropolitan industrial complex, would initially produce 300 air cooled chillers a year when it started production by the end of the year.

It would also make 2,000 air cooled packaged units, 3,000 fan coil units and 600 air handling units.

Metropolitan Bayu, which is 85 percent owned by Metropolitan Group, plans to spend US$25 million on the plant.

He said that if the company performed well for five years Hitachi would buy some of its shares and help distribute its chillers to the region. The chillers would carry the Hitachi trademark.

He said domestic demand for chillers was about 1,000 units a year. Most are imported from America, Japan and Malaysia.

A chiller costs about Rp 150 million ($63,500). (jsk)