RI building boom could mean big business for Australia
RI building boom could mean big business for Australia
SYDNEY (AFP): An Australian minister yesterday urged the country's building firms to tap into Indonesia's housing boom.
"To guarantee the ongoing viability of an industry which employs, directly and indirectly, 500,000 Australians, it is imperative that we link into the housing and construction boom occurring just to our north," said Administrative Services Minister Frank Walker
At a conference on building business opportunities in Indonesia, Walker noted that country's plans for more than 18 million new homes by 2020.
He said Australia could use the advantages of being close and having similar environmental conditions.
But firms should not "expect to put in a tender, build a building and pack up your tools to come home."
"Relationships must first be nurtured, trust and respect developed, and diverse needs recognized and fulfilled," Walker said.
"Many opportunities exist for dynamic Australian firms. But business people must deliver business orientated solutions, relevant to the Indonesian market," he added.
"Indonesia demands quality products, service, skills transfer, environmental sensitivity and an integrated approach to building development, " Walker told the audience, which included 20 Indonesian officials.
Indonesia's building targets over the next five years include 500,000 units of low cost housing in urban areas, 300,000 units in rural areas, and large-scale urban renewal in 125 cities, the conference heard.
Hendro Moeljono, director general of the research and development agency at Indonesia's public works ministry, said being a partner with Australia would have significant benefits, particularly in investment and building prefabrication areas.
"For Australia, the big market for construction industry in Indonesia is quite challenging," he said.
"It will extend job opportunities as well as providing the stepping stone for marketing construction technology to the far East," he added.