PT Texmaco hands over 50 trucks to Armed Forces

JAKARTA (JP): Publicly listed PT Texmaco Perkasa Engineering, a unit of the Texmaco Group, on Friday delivered 50 of the 1,000 Perkasa trucks the Armed Forces ordered from the company.

The trucks, the first domestically manufactured heavy-duty vehicles procured by the military, were handed over by Texmaco Group chairman Marimutu Sinivasan to Minister of Defense and Security/Armed Forces Commander Gen. Wiranto in a ceremony at the Armed Forces Headquarters in Cilangkap, East Jakarta.

The Indonesian-made trucks will be used by the Armed Forces and the National Police to maintain security during the June 7 general election.

Wiranto also received 50 hand-tractors from Texmaco which will be used in farming projects under the Armed Forces' civic work program.

"We should feel proud of these products and congratulate Texmaco for its impressive performance in developing a high- technology industry," Gen. Wiranto said.

This kind of industry, he added, would help spur Indonesian economic growth and increase international confidence in the country's manufacturing capability.

"The high-technology automotive industry Texmaco is developing gives us special pride because we should no longer rely on the import of such vital vehicles," Gen. Wiranto said.

Also attending the ceremony were Minister of Trade and Industry Rahardi Ramelan, Governor of Bank Indonesia Sjahril Sabirin, State Minister for the Empowerment of State Enterprises Tanri Abeng and scores of other senior government officials and military and police officers.

Sinivasan said Texmaco had forged agreements with 40 local component suppliers to produce the trucks, brand-named the Perkasa.

He said Texmaco also cooperated with several foreign companies, including Britain's Leyland, Germany's MAN and ZF, Austria's Steyr, the United States' Eaton and South Africa's ASTAS, in developing the truck.

"Around 75 percent of the trucks' components are manufactured locally. And this local content will gradually be increased to 90 percent by 2001," Sinivasan said.

He added that Texmaco Perkasa also manufactured a wide range of machines and tools for the textile, coal and sugar industries at its industrial complex in Subang, West Java.

S. Wairo, a director of the Texmaco group, said Texmaco was capable of producing around 50,000 Perkasas annually and would sell the vehicles both on the local and international markets.

Texmaco will offer the Perkasas for Rp 150 million (US$17,240) per unit while the hand-tractors will be sold for Rp 12 million per unit, he said.

Texmaco began in the textile and garment industry in West and Central Java and has expanded into high-technology machinery. The group also owns the country's largest integrated synthetic fiber industry and several garment factories in West and Central Java. (rms)