PT;INKA Expected to Go Global: Minister’

Jakarta, MINA — The State-Owned Enterprises Minister, Rini Soemarno, has expressed the hope that the state-owned train manufacturer PT INKA can grow rapidly and go international.

In a statement on Friday, the minister emphasized that the company had great business prospects as the Indonesian railway industry had stepped into the Asian market., Antara News reported.

PT INKA had long experience in making trains. The train operating at the Soekarno Hatta International Airport was a recent innovation by PT INKA.

The company had exported its products to a number of Asian countries including Malaysia, Bangladesh, Singapore, Thailand, and the Philippines, and even Australia.

Last January, it won a deal worth Rp 1.3 trillion (US$90 million) to supply locomotives to Zambia, marking its first foray into the largely untapped African market. PT INKA was looking at exporting to other African countries, including Nigeria, Sudan, Mozambique and Egypt.

PT INKA was expected to continue to innovate in delivering reliable and modern railway facilities for Indonesia`s transportation needs in the future, supported by skilled human resources keen on innovation, the Minister said.

“Innovation is very important given the competition in this era; PT INKA must continue to move forward and maintain its reliability,” she added.

PT INKA`s exports included 50 broad gauge locomotives and 200 meter-gauge locomotives to Bangladesh, ballast hopper locomotive cars to Thailand and chassis locomotives to Australia.

PT INKA, which had a factory in Madiun, East Java, would also sign an agreement to produce hydraulic diesel locomotives for the Philippines this month.

The company also supplied rolling stocks for the Indonesian market, including the cars for the light rapid transit (LRT) system under construction in Jakarta and several other cities.

President Joko Widodo has called on Indonesian producers to explore new markets to reduce their dependence on traditional markets such as Asia and Europe.   (T/RS5/RS1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)