Rolls-Royce to form more joint ventures

JAKARTA (JP): Britain's Rolls-Royce plc. plans to set up several joint venture companies to operate various fields in Indonesia, according to the company's regional executive in Indonesia, Robin Singleton.

Singleton said here yesterday that Rolls-Royce had recently formed a joint venture company to manufacture switch-gear components for power transmission.

A series of discussions had been held on the establishment of a local gas turbine, which could provide design and manufacturing services, he said.

No further details about the projects were available.

Singleton said that his company had in the past 10 years cooperated with state-owned PT Industri Pesawat Terbang Nusantara (IPTN) in developing an engine maintenance facility and providing technology transfer.

Rolls-Royce has been active in Indonesia for over 25 years, supplying aircraft engines and industrial power equipment to various fields including aviation for the state-owned air carrier Garuda Indonesia, defense for the Air Force and Navy, power generation and transmission for state-owned electricity company PLN and oil and gas for Pertamina's production sharing contractors.

The industrial version of the company's Trent engine is already being proposed for several private power plants and for oil and gas projects, including the extensive proposed development of the Natuna field. (icn)