Firms may find work in Algeria

The Jakarta Post, JAKARTA | Wed, 01/14/2009 4:13 PM  

Local construction companies might watch out for opportunities concerning projects in Algiers, especially those funded by the local department of public works, State Minister for State Enterprises Sofyan Djalil said Tuesday. 

"The projects in question include the building of 104 kilometers of freeways and around 36 bridges in Aljazair," he said at the Ministry after a discussion with the Aljazair State Minister of Public Works, Amar Ghoul. 

According to Sofyan, the projects will involve state-owned companies and possibly privately owned ones. But it was not possible yet to say how much the projects were worth, he said. 

He mentioned that the value of the projects under review was to be worked out together with a consortium from Japan, and that the idea was just getting going, so it was not yet easy for interested companies to get themselves nominated and in the frame. 

However, state-owned construction company PT Wijaya Karya (WIKA) had already secured a role, as the builder of two bridges worth Rp 400 billion (around US$38 million). 

"The ministry was impressed with WIKA's track record, which included several projects in Algeria, and it also invited other construction companies to participate in future projects," Sofyan said. 

He explained that currently WIKA had around 700 workers in Algeria working on projects including mosques and housing. 

The company president director Bintang Perbowo said that at first the Algeria ministry offered WIKA the chance to build up to five bridges, worth a total of Rp 1 trillion. 

However, the company only accepted two of them, he said, adding that it will try to finish these projects before considering others from the ministry. Previously, WIKA had gone through the same pattern of partnering with a Japanese consortium to run projects in Algeria. 

Two years ago, it signed a contract with COJAAL, a consortium that consisted of companies such as Kajima, Taisei and Teken, to build 57 bridges worth around $50 million. 

WIKA expects good performance overseas to help push this year's net profits up 221.5 percent from the Rp 144 billion forecast at the end of 2008. 

At home, the company also has high hopes of securing more projects, as the government intensifies its infrastructure projects. (dis)