UPS eyes 20 percent growth in revenue

JAKARTA (JP): Express courier service company PT UPS Cardig International expects to increase revenues by 20 percent in three years on the back of the country's rising exports.

Company director Rachmat Atmadja said UPS Cardig, a joint venture between Atlanta, United States-based United Parcel Service (UPS) and local air transportation company PT Cardig Air, was optimistic that Indonesian exports would continue to grow despite a slowdown in the country's main export markets, including the United States and Japan.

"The export growth will do good for our business," he told reporters.

He however refused to give any figures of the company's revenue.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), the country's exports jumped 27.3 percent to US$62.02 billion in 2000 from $48.67 billion in 1999, but many analysts believe exports would decline considerably as a result of the economic slowdown in the U.S. and Japan.

UPS Cardig's technical advisor, Neil Bond said the company would increase its flight frequencies this year to carry the expected increase in delivery orders, but he refused to provide any details.

At present, UPS Cardig's airplanes fly six times a week from Jakarta to Singapore, and six times a week from Batam to Hong Kong via Singapore.

It carries about 95 percent of the packages with its own airplanes, with the remaining 5 percent transported by Garuda Indonesia Airways, Singapore Airlines and Qantas Airways.

Bond said as part of service enhancement program, the company would provide its customers with free software in the next two months to enable them to monitor the delivery of their goods on the UPS website through their own computers.

"That's part of our commitment to deliver the orders faster without any flaws," he said, adding that the company would return the fee paid by customers if it failed to deliver their goods on time.

UPS Cardig, which was initially known as UPS Indonesia, was established in 1996 as a marketing arm of UPS.

UPS Cardig is now co-owned by Cardig Air and UPS with 51 percent and 49 percent of shares respectively.

The company has 1500 corporate customers, mainly local firms. (05)