S'pore firm to manage Bakrie van logistics
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)