PTA firm expands capacity

PTA firm expands capacity

JAKARTA (JP): PT Bakrie Kasei Corporation has doubled its
production capacity of purified terephthalic acid (PTA) to
600,000 tons per annum, from 300,000 tons.

The company said yesterday that it had just completed the
construction of its second PTA plant in Serang, West Java, for a
total cost of US$210 million.

The plant, with a capacity of 300,000 tons per annum, will
begin commercial production later this month.

Bakrie Kasei is 51 percent owned by Mitsubishi Chemical
Corporation of Japan, 20 percent by PT Bakrie & Brothers, 19
percent by Japan Asia Investment Co. Ltd. and 10 percent by
International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World
Bank.

Meanwhile, PT Bakrie Diafoil, a joint venture between Bakrie
Kasei and Diafoil Hoechst Co. Ltd. of Germany, has also finished
constructing its polyester film plant in Serang.

The plant, with a production capacity of 4,200 tons of
polyester film per annum, will start its commercial production
later this month. (rid)

;JP;RID;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief--asphalt-Buton
Buton asphalt for Vietnam
JP/9/COLBOX2

Buton asphalt for Vietnam

JAKARTA (JP): Facing difficulties in marketing its asphalt
domestically, foreign investment firm PT Amerta Margayasa Aspal
plans to export its products to a number of neighboring
countries.

The company's president, John Huliselan, was quoted yesterday
by Antara as saying that the Vietnamese government had expressed
interest in importing its micro-asphalt, produced on Buton
island, Southeast Sulawesi.

"This is a great success for us in promoting Buton's micro-
asphalt abroad," Huliselan said. He added that his company had
conducted a series of seminars and demonstrations on the use of
micro-asphalt in Vietnam.

He said that other countries interested in importing the
micro-asphalt included Singapore, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and
Australia. The company will soon export 500 tons to Australia.

The Australia-affiliated Amerta Margayasa used to produce
micro-asphalt, with a total output of 50,000 tons per annum, but
managed to sell only 20,000 tons per annum on the domestic
market.

Besides micro-asphalt, the company also produced butonite
mastic asphalt. However, it has halted production of its butonite
mastic asphalt since last year, due to a large stock in
inventory. (rid)

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ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-tax-ship
Govt waives ship tax
JP/9/COLBOX3

Govt waives ship tax

JAKARTA (JP): The government, through a ministerial decree,
has waived tax on the transfer of ship ownership in a bid to
encourage the development of domestic shipping and fishery
industries.

The decree, dated June 19, stipulates that such a tax facility
applies to ships procured by domestic firms or individuals from
either foreign or domestic sellers.

To further encourage domestic shipping and fishery industries,
the government is expected to announce today another reform
package, which includes a lifting of the ban on buying and
operating foreign ships in Indonesian waters. (rid)

;JP;MDS;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-RI-Mongolia
RI, Mongolia sign deal
JP/9/COLBOX4

RI, Mongolia sign deal

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia and Mongolia have signed an agreement
on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of tax
evasion with respect to taxes on incomes.

The agreement was signed in Ulaan Bataar on Tuesday by
Indonesian Ambassador Rachmat Witoelar and Mongolian Deputy
Minister of Finance S. Ochipurev.

The aim of the agreement is to enforce taxation for
individuals and entities that have business contacts, including
rendering facilities to parties from both countries.

Indonesia is also offering Mongolia programs in technical
cooperation in the fields of heath treatment and family
planning.(mds)

;JP;ALO;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Share-Lippo
Lippo Land shares acquired
JP/9/COLBOX5

Lippo Land shares acquired

JAKARTA (JP): China Resources yesterday purchased a 5 percent
stake in PT Lippo Land Development at Rp 64 billion (US$27.1
million) through the Jakarta Stock Exchange (JSX), the latter
company said in a statement.

The purchased shares were previously owned by the Riady
family, the founder of the Lippo Group.

The 5 percent stake represents 12.4 million of Lippo Land's
shares.

The transaction was executed at a price of Rp 5,150 per share,
representing a 4.2 percent discount from yesterday's closing
price, the statement said.

It also reported that China Resources has bought a 5.2 percent
stake in PT Lippo Karawaci, a subsidiary of Lippo Land, which was
listed on the JSX last week. (alo)

;REUTER;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-QNI-nickel
QNI looks at nickel plant
JP/9/COLBOX6

QNI looks at nickel plant

SYDNEY (Reuter): QNI Ltd said yesterday its South Africa's
Gencor Ltd and Indonesia's state-owned PT Aneka Tambang were
looking at developing an integrated nickel and cobalt processing
facility in Indonesia and Australia.

QNI Managing Director Wyn Davies said in a statement the study
would be funded equally by QNI and Gencor and was expected to
take nine months.

He said the strategic alliance between the three parties would
draw on their collective strengths, including:

. Aneka Tambang's mining and operating experience and
ownership of lateritic deposits in Indonesia,

. Gencor's developing technology for nickel processing and
operating experience in Indonesia through its Billiton
subsidiaries, and,

. QNI's unique ammonia leach technology developed at its
Yabulu Refinery in Australia.

Gencor has developed a technique for using bacteria to process
usually difficult ore bodies containing gold, copper and nickel.

The scoping study would look at;

. developing a number of underdeveloped lateritic nickel ore
deposits in Indonesia,

. constructing a nickel smelter in Indonesia using Gencor
technology,

. constructing an ammonia leach plant in Indonesia to process
ore to carbonate stage, and,

. expanding the product section of the Yabulu Refinery in
Australia to take the additional carbonate feed.

;REUTER;
ANPAf..r..
Bizbrief-Salim-takeover
Salim to take over QAF
JP/9/COLBOX7

Salim to take over QAF

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Indonesia's Salim group said yesterday it
has made a conditional takeover offer for bread company, QAF Ltd,
after the exercise of call options for QAF shares and the
purchase of more shares.

The Salim group, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualif
Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of its Singapore investment arm KMP Pte
Ltd, is offering S$2 per share and $1.10 per warrant for the
shares and warrants it does not already own.

The mandatory takeover offer was triggered after Qualif's
exercise of its call option agreement to buy 25 million QAF
shares at Singapore $1.93 each and 2.5 million warrants at
Singapore $1.02 each on Tuesday, a company announcement said
yesterday.

With the exercise of the share options and warrants, the Salim
group now owns 104.97 million shares and 11.46 million warrants
representing a 33.2 percent stake in QAF.

Under Singapore's rules on takeovers and mergers, a takeover
offer has to be made if 25 percent ownership of a company has
been reached.

Qualif said the takeover offer is conditional on the company
receiving acceptances which will result in it carrying over 50
percent of the voting rights in QAF.

QAF shares were suspended on Tuesday at the company's request.
Yesterday they were trading up S$0.05 at S$1.96.

KMP is wholly-owned by certain members of the Salim family,
Liem Sioe Liong, Anthony Salim, Andree Halim and Mira Salim, the
statement from Qualif said.