Siemens expects 20 percent sales growth in 2005

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Driven by a high demand in the electrical and communications industry, PT Siemens Indonesia (Siemens) -- local affiliation of Germany's engineering giant Siemens GA -- is projecting 20 percent growth this year, said the company's general manager, Greig Young, on Wednesday.

Last year, Siemens' total sales in Indonesia increased by nine percent amounting to some 753 million euro (US$978,9 million).

Siemens CEO Juergen D. Lagleder said that most of its business units delivered strong volume growth, thanks to clear business guidelines provided by the parent company.

Siemens currently employs 3,300 employees in Indonesia at its five manufacturing plants, the products from which not only service the domestic market, but are also export to Indonesia's neighbors in the region.

Two of the plants -- located in Pulo Mas, Jakarta, and Cilegon, Banten -- have become Siemens' international centers of competence for switchgear panels and several power plant components, exporting some 80 percent of their output.

"We are going to develop some more power generator plants this year," said Young during a seminar here.

Siemens has just completed a power generator at the Muara Tawar gas turbine power plant, and was awarded a ten-year operation and maintenance contract in March 2004 by PT Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PLN).

In June 2004, Siemens was commissioned to upgrade a gas turbine at a combined cycle power plant in Belawan, North Sumatra. The company also owns a 50 percent share of PT Jawa Power, a joint venture coal-fired power plant established in 1995.

Aside from the power sector, Siemens' most successful business is in communications where it excels in the provision of high- performance backbone networks.

Last year, Siemens completed a high-performance network for PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom) by supplying switching equipment and installing 2,500 kilometers of fiber-optic cable across Sumatra.

"In view of these successes, we are continuing this initiative in 2005 and will strive to pursue further operational improvements in our businesses," said Lagleder.(003)