RI MORE PROMISING FOR AUTO INDUSTRY GROWTH

Jakarta, June 22 (ANTARA) - With its large market Indonesia is more promising for auto-industry growth than Thailand, president director of Indomobil Group, Gunadi Sindhuwinta, said.

"Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are starting to grow. The Asean is now competing with BRIC in various sectors including automotive," he said here on Monday.

He said Indonesia had now been accounted for among the Asean member countries due to political conditions in Thailand and Malaysia's strong protection on its automotive sector.

"VW has seen our conditions particularly the political conditions which are quite good despite preparations for presidential elections. They have even thought of moving to assembly after in the completely knock down area," he said.

He said indeed Thailand dared boasting to be a Detroit in Asean. With all its policies in the sector that country indeed had led in the post 1997-1998 crisis.

"Now however their conditions are not quite good. I have already advised our component supplier friends when they planned to move to Thailand about conditions in that country. What I said is true. They cannot operate until now," he said.

He was of the view that automotive industry and its supporting industries in the country had to start preparing themselves so that when time came for Thailand to comeback the country would have been ready to compete with that country.

He said improvement of infrastructure and supporting facilities must be given a priority. "I think the incentive from the government would be useless if inefficiency remains caused by roads that are damaged. Imagine goods had to be delivered in four hours while it should have been in just an hour if the road was good. The incentive gone because the cost is up due to bad infrastructure," he said.

He said Indonesia as a home base for auto production as well as marketing was promising like China.

"China becomes a strong home base because its domestic market is always ready to support if exports are disrupted," he said.

He said with its good economic and gross domestic product growth Indonesia was promising for development of auto industry and its supporting industries.

***2***