Rekayasa, Linde to take on world in engineering

Rekayasa, Linde to take on world in engineering

JAKARTA (JP): State-owned PT Rekayasa Industri and Linde
Process Engineering and Contracting of Germany have signed an
agreement to help each other supply engineering products to the
world, particularly Asia.

"This cooperation creates an opportunity for Indonesian
engineering industries to expand their businesses on the
international market," the Ministry of Industry and Trade's
Director of Industry, Machinery and Engineering, Achdiat
Atmawinata, said yesterday.

Linde, he said, was an experienced engineering company with a
good international marketing network, which could be exploited by
Indonesian companies.

According to Achdiat, Indonesian companies could produce many
quality engineering products, including components and
spare parts, cheaply. But they found it difficult to access the
world market.

The agreement is part of Linde's global sourcing strategy to
maintain its international competitiveness.

"Indonesian companies can benefit from such a global sourcing
strategy by tying up with multinational companies like Linde,"
Achdiat said.

Alternative

Linde, established 1879, specializes in engineering,
contracting, materials handling, refrigeration and industrial gas
projects. More than 50 percent of its engineering projects are in
Europe. It expects to procure more materials and engineering
products outside Germany in future.

"Our foreign procurement is worth about US$800 million every
year," Wolf Gruber, the managing director of Linde Process
Engineering and Contracting Sdn Bhd, told The Jakarta Post.

He said this would increase because his company was trying to
expand its market share in Asia.

Until now, he said, his company's main partner in Asia was
South Korea.

But in the long run, he said, the company was looking for
partners outside Korea.

Asked why his company was seeking partners in Indonesia, he
said: "We see that Indonesia has capable engineering companies
that can offer very competitive prices and high class
engineering."

He said the agreement would pool their resources to target the
Asian engineering market.

Gruber, however, admitted his company would not only seek
engineering products from Indonesian suppliers, but would also
look for projects in Indonesia.

"We're interested in petrochemical and natural gas plants, gas
treatment and cleaning, fertilizer manufacturing, gas recovery
technology, environmental protection plants and plant components
such as heat exchangers, reactors, pressure vessels and spiral-
welded pipes in Indonesia," he said. (bnt)