S'pore firm to manage Bakrie van logistics

JAKARTA (JP): Bakrie group subsidiary PT Prosys Bangun Nusantara signed up Singapore Technologies Logistics (STL) yesterday to help manage the flow and supply of components for Bakrie vans.

Bakrie Group Chairman Aburizal Bakrie said that with STL's help, Bakrie's new automotive division could compete with established automakers.

Management of component flows is vital for automotive companies in cutting their costs and managing their inventories, he said at a signing ceremony at the Rasuna Club here.

Prosys Bangun Nusantara specializes in project management and information technology, while STL is a conglomerate which manages logistics for the port of Singapore.

Aburizal, more commonly known as Ical, said the companies would invest US$5 million into a joint venture: 30 percent owned by Prosys Bangun Nusantara and 70 percent by the Singapore firm.

The Bakrie Group, through its subsidiary PT Bakrie Motor, will make multi-purpose vans for eight passengers. The vans, under the Bakrie brand, will sell for between Rp 38 million ($16,100) and Rp 62 million ($26,300).

The group has spent the last three years planning to launch the van. British companies, Global Automotive Design And Technology and Creative Automotive Design, helped design the Bakrie van.

The van's prototypes are being tested at Leyland Technical Center in Britain. It should be launched by the end of 1997.

The van will be manufactured at the Ningz Pacific Motor factory in Cikarang, West Java. Ningz is 10-percent owned by PT Bakrie Investindo.

Peugeot of France will supply some of the components, as will other foreign companies and local suppliers.

By the end of 1997, 40 percent of the van is expected to consist of local components. Local content should increase to 60 percent by the third year of production.

PT Bakrie Motor recently received an industrial permit from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, but it needs an investment permit from the Investment Coordinating Board and a brand license from the Ministry of Justice before it can produce vans.

Rumor has it the government deliberately withheld the permits for fear that the Bakrie van might harm the market for the Timor "national car" being produced by a company of President Soeharto's son, Hutomo Mandala Putra.

Ical denied the rumor. He said he was optimistic the company would get its permits. (jsk)