Sempati to fly to Myanmar

JAKARTA (JP): Sempati Air, one of the country's six scheduled air carriers, will likely begin serving Myanmar later this year based on a recent agreement designed to improve economic ties.

Minister of Transportation Haryanto Dhanutirto told reporters after attending a ministerial meeting on the economy here yesterday that Sempati has been chosen to serve Myanmar because the national air carrier Garuda Indonesia is very busy with its own routes.

Sempati is a subsidiary of Humpuss Group, which is owned by Hutomo Mandala Putra, President Soeharto's youngest son. The carrier currently serves both domestic and international destinations, including Taiwan, Australia and Singapore.

Haryanto, who accompanied Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto during his visit to Myanmar last week, said that Myanmar's air carrier will serve Indonesia starting in June.

Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave and 30 businessmen also took part in the visit to Myanmar.

Hartarto said that the visit was made to reciprocate the visit to Jakarta last year a Myanmarese delegation led by First Secretary Lt.Gen. Khin Nyunt.

"Myanmar is offering to enhance cooperation in telecommunications, trade, forestry, television and air transportation," he said.

Haryanto added that Myanmar is also interested in purchasing two Foker-27s from Garuda and in studying airport construction and management from Indonesia.

"They have also asked whether we can provide them with soft loans for the extension of their airports," Haryanto said.

Joop said that Myanmar's economy is very promising for Indonesian businessmen.

"They are considering leasing a transponder from Palapa C-1, Indonesia's communications satellite of the next generation," he said. (icn)