RI becomes Toshiba production hub for Asia

Nani Alfrida, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Tue, 02/02/2010 11:29 AM

Japanese electronics giant Toshiba has chosen Indonesia as the company’s regional production hub for liquid crystal display (LCD) television sets and has relocated its Vietnamese factory to Indonesia.

“Indonesia will be the only production base for Toshiba LCD TV in Asia and Oceania,” the president director PT Toshiba Consumer Product Indonesia (TCPI), Yuzo Tsuchiya, told reporters following a ceremony to mark the company’s 15th anniversary in Indonesia.

Yuzu said the company’s factory in Vietnam had been relocated to Indonesia to strengthen the LCD TV operation here. It is expected to increase monthly production by about 50 percent this year to 100,000 units. He said they would not only be sold in Indonesia’s growing LCD TV market but would also help meet demand from other Asian countries.

To support this expansion the firm also plans to increase the workforce from 750 to 1,200, he said.

Toshiba has invested US$ 156.6 million in Indonesia since it set up shop in 1995. Industry Minister Mohamad S. Hidayat said earlier that Toshiba would expand its television factory in Cikarang with $35 million in additional investment. The expansion would be part of its decision to make Indonesia into its production hub for Southeast Asia.

Speaking to reporters after attending the anniversary celebration, Hidayat said that the Indonesian electronics industry was projected to grow faster at 10 percent this year as compared to 7.6 percent last year despite worries over the influx of cheaper electronic products from China following the full implementation of the ASEAN-China free trade agreement in January.

“With 10 percent growth, the sector can create about another 150,000 jobs,” he said.

Meanwhile, the director of electronic industry at the Industry Ministry Syarif Hidayat told The Jakarta Post that electronic sales in Indonesia would probably grow by 20 percent this year to Rp 25 trillion in 2010 from Rp 20 trillion in 2009.

However, according to Syarif, many changes had to taken in order to be sure to meet these target.

“Power blackouts, and the lack of gas supply should be overcome, if we want to see this industry grow,” he added.