PTSI diversifies products to face policy changes

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT Surveyor Indonesia, which carries out pre-shipment inspection for Indonesia's imports, is diversifying its products to anticipate the changes in the global market and the government policy on customs clearance system.

"The impact, if the on-arrival system is reinstalled in Indonesia, will be that PTSI will lose its income from pre- shipment inspection jobs," the company's president, Faried Sybli Barchia, said at a hearing with the House of Representatives Budgetary Commission here yesterday.

Faried explained that the diversification would include services on business information, commercial survey, consultancy and appraisal, asset management as well as quality assurances.

Early last month, the government decided to extend its contract with PTSI for another two years to inspect goods imported into Indonesia at points of loading.

However, Director General of Customs and Excise Soehardjo said recently that directors general of customs from member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) had agreed not to use the preshipment inspection system for trade within ASEAN after the execution of the ASEAN Free Trade Area (AFTA) agreement slated for 2003.

Faried said yesterday his company is also anticipating the global trends in trade and investment, including the implementation of free trade in ASEAN.

"In relation to the AFTA, PTSI has found a huge business opportunity," Faried said, adding that his company could introduce a new service on identifying countries of origin for goods traded within the free trade area.

Meanwhile, Faried denied allegations that his company had suffered losses, saying that his company had recorded a steady increase of profits during the last four years. Last year, the company posted a pre-tax profit of Rp 19.3 billion (US$8.5 million), up from Rp 17.7 billion in 1993. For the first semester of this year, the company collected a pre-tax income of Rp 11.7 billion.

PTSI has given a substantial contribution to the government's coffers. Last year, it delivered Rp 6.6 billion in taxes and dividends, down from Rp 9.18 billion in 1993. This year, the company projects submitting Rp 13.45 billion in taxes and dividends to the government.

Import duties collected by the government through PTSI from importers also increased in the last four years. Last year, the company collected US$5,992 of import duties, up from $4,503 in 1993. This year, the company projects to collect $7,150 of import duties.

PTSI was formed by the government in a joint venture with the Geneva-based Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) in 1991 with an authorized capital of Rp 782.8 million. PTSI was originally designed to eventually take over all preshipment inspection jobs from SGS, which has carried out the jobs since 1985. (rid)