XINHUA/Suzuki to declare Indonesia production base
From:
JAKARTA, (Xinhua) Japanese automobile and motorcycle manufacturer Suzuki plans to make Indonesia as its regional production base and add investment by over 800 million U.S. dollar, Indonesian Industry Minister MS Hidayat has said.
"Suzuki Motor chairman Osamu Suzuki will come here on July 4 to announce the 800 million U.S. dollar investment and declare Indonesia its production base for exports,"the minister was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying on Wednesday.
Minister Hidayat said on Tuesday that the firm would set up a new plant in West Java, which may double its cars and motorcycle production.
Currently, Suzuki has set plants in Bekasi of West Java province with production capacity of between 120,000 and 140,000 cars and 1.2 million motorcycles annually, of which 15 to 20 percent is exported.
Budi Darmadi, the ministry's director general of high- technology-based priority industry, said the investments would also be allocated to the manufacturing of engines and developing new car prototypes and designs. He claimed Suzuki would start construction of its new plant and upgrade its production capacity next year.
"The construction work will take around one year, while the expansion will be completed in around eight months," he said.
The large size of Indonesia's car market has attracted major car makers to increase investments in the country.