370,000 Expected To Visit Indonesia Motor Show 2013

Jakarta, Sept 19 (Antara) - The organizers of the 21st Indonesia International Motor Show (IIMS) have set a target of 370,000 visitors to the exhibition, which will be held from September 19 to 29 in Jakarta`s Kemayoran area. "We have set a target of being visited by 370,000 visitors," the chief organizer of the event Johny Darmawan said at the opening of IIMS here on Thursday. He said that the four-yearly event had been organized since 1986 and was reckoned as one of the biggest automotive shows in South East Asia. Based on the theme "Smart Vehicle Mobility," the IIMS is being organized in a 75 thousand square meter area, which is an expansion of the previous show site, which was only about 70 thousand square meters. Darmawan pointed out that a total of 36 automotive brands and 276 supporting industries were taking part in the show, which will include more than 300 exhibition stands. He further noted that Indonesia`s economic stability and positive economic growth had so far boosted demand for transportation means, such as cars and motorcycles. The number of cars sold in 2012 had reached 1.067 million, up 21 percent from the previous year. During the first semester of this year, car sales touched 692 units. During the current expo, several motor vehicle companies will showcase their products. Toyota and Daihatsu are exhibiting low-cost green cars (LCGC) with trademarks, such as Ayla and Agya. Japanese company Honda Motor Co. Ltd. also launched its first Honda Mobilio prototype designed for the Indonesian market at the exhibition. The LMVP car segment will be produced at a new factory of Honda, which will be set up in Karawang, West Java in 2014. Honda also presented its NSX Concept, which is making its first appearance in the Asia and Oceania regions. This sports car with a hybrid concept will be used at the Super GT Series race in 2014. This car was exhibited for the first time at the North America International Show in 2012 at Detroit in the United States. While inaugurating the show, Vice President Boediono said the automotive industry will become the backbone of industrialization in Indonesia because its traits meet the needs of the three pillars of industrial development in the country. "Firstly, it is about a process aimed at increasing value added services and developing downstream industries. We no longer want to sell raw materials. In the automotive industry, it is the other way round. It is an upstream industrial development," the vice president stated at the Indonesian International Motor Show 2013. Secondly, he said, industrialization was directed at maximizing the impact of development on domestic industries or resulting in a multiplier effect. The multiplier effect will create more jobs and employ a bigger workforce, he added. He said the automotive industry would have a considerable multiplier effect in view of the supporting industries it needed. Thirdly, the vice president said that industries had now become the world`s supply chains in which a country could become a provider of a certain component for the global production of a product. Boediono also noted that these three pillars of industrialization could be developed in Indonesia in view of the country`s human and natural resources, as well as its huge market potential. He said the automotive industry could become the basis for especially developing the second and third pillars.