Timor and Maleo to jointly develop local suppliers
KARAWANG, West Java, (JP): State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie said yesterday PT Timor Putra Nasional and PT Maleo, respectively the producers of national cars Timor and Maleo, will cooperate in developing spare parts vendors.
"We're preparing the cooperation between Maleo and Timor," Habibie, who is also the chairman of the state-owned Management Board for Strategic Industries (BPIS), said.
Habibie visited the Texmaco Group's industrial complex here yesterday, accompanied by Coordinating Minister of Production and Distribution Hartarto and Texmaco's president M. Sinivasan.
He said the cooperation to develop the car components industries was necessary for the two national car projects to increase their local contents faster.
He did not elaborate on how the cooperation would be pursued or what kind of vendor items would be developed.
"We aim to raise our local content to 60 percent within two years," he said.
Timor Putra is required to have a local content of 60 percent within three years, otherwise it would be penalized by the government.
Timor Putra, which is controlled by President Soeharto's youngest son Hutomo Mandala Putra, has been granted a pioneer status in developing the national car Timor, enabling it to receive tax breaks that include the exemption of import duties and luxury sales taxes.
In a joint venture with Kia Motors, Timor is allowed to import the cars from South Korea until its own factory becomes operational in 1998.
The Timor sedan cars from its principal Kia Motors' assembly plant in South Korea, are now on sale in the country for Rp 35.75 million (US$15,235), almost a half of the price of the same type.
Habibie said that Maleo, a four-door sedan, had been jointly developed by BPIS and Australian design firm Millard Design. "It is ready to be launched, but we have yet to establish PT Maleo as the would-be producer of the national car," he said.
He said that PT Maleo would not be 100 percent owned by BPIS. Other local investors are invited to participate in financing the national project, he said.
Habibie said that Texmaco was a potential vendor that could supply car components for Timor and Maleo.
The Texmaco Group is now developing an automotive industry. In the first semester of next year, the company -- in cooperation with Leyland of Britain and Cummins Engine Co. Inc of the U.S. -- will start producing trucks.
Its subsidiary PT Texmaco Perkasa Engineering produces machine tools, textile machinery and other capital goods by utilizing the sophisticated casting and forging technology.
Habibie said that in the near future the national aircraft maker IPTN would cooperate with Texmaco to develop vendor items such as seat covers for the state-owned firm's aircrafts.
Hartarto urged Indonesian businessmen to develop the capital goods industry as the country -- along with other member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) -- was still a net importer of capital goods.
"Our banks, particularly, should financially support the development of the industry," he said. (bnt)