PT LG Astra to invest $400m in new plant
PT LG Astra to invest $400m in new plant
JAKARTA (JP): PT LG Astra Electronics announced its plan
yesterday to invest US$400 million in a plant which will produce
television color picture tubes and computer monitor color display
tubes.
LG Astra Electronics, which is 51 percent owned by PT Astra
International and 49 percent by LG Electronics of South Korea,
formerly operated under the name PT Goldstar Astra.
The company introduced its new name, LG Astra Electronics, at
a reception at the Sahid Puri Agung Convention Hall here
yesterday evening.
The company said the new color picture tube plant will be
built on a 30-hectare plot in the MM 2100 industrial estate in
Karawang, West Java.
It added that the full development of the tube plant would
take up a total investment of $400 million, of which $300 million
would be laid out in the first stage.
LG Astra's existing factory in Tangerang, West Java, produces
TV sets, washing machines, air conditioners, freezers and
refrigerators.
The company added that it would also invest an additional $5
million to increase its production capacity of audio video in the
Tangerang factory.
"Most of our products are for the local market," a company
executive said.
He said the local content of the electronic products, which
ranges from between 15 percent to 50 percent, comes from hundreds
of local vendors.
The Indonesian-Korean joint venture changed its name following
the name change of its Korean partner, Lucky Goldstar Group, into
LG.
LG Electronics, which itself is one of the 22 subsidiaries
which make up the Seoul-based LG Group, is a worldwide company
with production units and affiliates spread out in 120 countries.
The joint venture has established its distribution company, PT
Graha Kartika Kencana, as the sole distributor of the products.
LG Electronics, in a bid to expand its international market
share, has acquired the Zenith TV manufacturer in the United
States and developed what it calls thin-film, transistor-liquid
crystal display. (kod)