Tommy denies taking advantages as president's son

JAKARTA (JP): Businessman Hutomo Mandala Putra denies that being the son of President Soeharto gives him the advantage of winning major projects in Indonesia.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Fortune magazine, Soeharto's youngest son, known as Tommy, acknowledged that it was not unusual for him to receive special treatment from government officials.

"I have the advantage, especially when I want to meet with government officials. They take my phone calls. They know who I am," he said.

"But that doesn't mean that they have to give me first priority to win projects. If I cannot prove that my proposal is better than the others, they will appoint the best for the country," he said.

Tommy, 35, currently runs the vast and growing Humpuss Group, which has operations in carmaking, construction and clove- marketing businesses, among others.

Last year, he was granted the sole right to produce a so- called national car, which received import duty and luxury tax breaks, on the understanding the car's local components totaled 20 percent by the end of the first year, 40 percent by the end of the second and 60 percent by the end of the third.

But since PT Timor Putra Nasional -- Tommy's company that is currently developing the car -- did not have a manufacturing plant, the government allowed it to import completely-built-up Timor cars for one year, starting last October.

The imports were made from Kia Motors Corp. of South Korea, Timor Putra's foreign partner in the project.

The government had allowed Timor Putra to import 45,000 cars from Kia Motors' manufacturing plant.

Recent reports stated that due to low sales, Timor Nasional was planning to export more than 20,000 of its cars to Europe, the Middle East, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia.

Timor Putra would hold a stock of about 5,000 cars.

On the national car project, Tommy told Fortune: "It's not really in trouble. Every car company has to have its own stock. Our stock is near the airport, so everybody can see it ... A full manufacturing plan takes time, two to three years. So, we have to build the Timor car first in Korea and, at the same time, teach our people in Korea how to make good cars".

"In about one year, all those stories -- that they think the car is junk, that the body is made from cane, that the tires go flat easily -- will disappear," he said.

Shortly after the government granted Tommy the sole right to develop the Timor car, his older brother, Bambang Trihatmodjo, announced that he would also like to develop a car under the national car program.

Although the government had stated that no one else would get the license to develop a national car, this did not stop Bambang from launching the Bimantara Cakra and Bimantara Nenggala cars, which he developed in conjunction with South Korea's Hyundai Corp.

On such rivalry, Tommy said: "It's friendly and it's open. Whichever is the best for the country, then they're the ones who win the business. It's not that the oldest has to win from the younger or the other way around." (pwn)