PT Pos prepares Internet kiosks

PT Pos prepares Internet kiosks

JAKARTA (JP): State postal enterprise PT Pos Indonesia will
introduce electronic information services in the country's major
cities in February 1997.

Company president Cahyana Ahmadjayadi said Tuesday users can
use the service to promote their businesses or to get information
about market potentials both at home and overseas.

"We target small-scale companies as the main market of the new
service," he said after signing an agreement with the small-scale
industry development agency (Bapik).

Bapik agreed to become the first subscriber of the postal
company's electronic information services, called Warsi.

"By the year 2000, 300 post offices in 280 big and small
cities in Indonesia will be equipped with Warsi facilities," he
said.

He said PT Pos Indonesia would invest Rp 5 million for a
Warsi, which will provide home pages for the small-scale
industries at reasonable prices.

"All Internet users all over the world are able to access
Warsi to learn about the products from Indonesia's small-scale
industries," he said. He said Warsi was applied by using Pos
Indonesia's Internet service called Wasantaranet.

He said that Warsi would be reachable at
http://www.warsi.wasantara.net.id.

"Small-scale businesses have good products, but many of them
have a poor marketing and promotion system. Through Warsi, we
hope to help promote them," Cahyana said.

He said that in addition to the home-page service, Warsi would
also offer other Internet services including E-mail, electronic
money transferring and information on service, commodity and
packaging distribution.

"This will be trade points, not just service points. We help
small-scale businesspeople get transactions, including those from
the international market, through Warsi."

He said Bapik currently grouped millions of potential small-
scale businesspeople all over Indonesia.

Through the new service, Pos Indonesia would continue to serve
the public, but also diversify its business, he said.

"But we are not abandoning our core business. We are
streamlining our services as well by applying high information
and electronic systems."

Cahyana said his company would see higher profits this year.

"Pos Indonesia expects to gain Rp 67.89 billion (US$28.7
million) in profits this year, up 19.7 percent from Rp 56.7
billion last year. Our revenues are projected to increase this
year by 11.5 percent to Rp 559.12 billion from Rp 501.4 billion
in 1995."

He said Pos Indonesia has launched a series of improvement
programs. "The first phase, from 1995 to 1997, is the
consolidation and modernization program. The second phase, from
1998 to 2000, is the growth program and the last one, from 2000
to 2003, is the total solution program."

Pos Indonesia currently operates 4,798 offices, 3,272
vehicular service units and 8,654 service points all over the
country.

Cahyana said the company would handle 600 million letters and
11 million money transfer transactions, worth Rp 1.1 trillion,
this year. (icn)