MINISTER ALERTS BUILDING CONTRACTORS ABOUT FOREIGN COMPANIES' ARRIVAL

Padang, July 31 (ANTARA) - Public works minister Djoko Kirmanto called on building contractors here on Thursday to improve their performance so that their market share would not be taken over by foreign companies.

Tight competition will happen following the opening of the market for foreign companies, he said in his written address read out by his staff Bambang Guritno at "International Conference on Construction Industry (ICCI) 2009" held by Bung Hatta University and University Teknology Malaysia.

Around 100 architects and construction experts from Indonesia and Malaysia attended the seminar.

Djoko said foreign contractors would come to the country after Indonesia signed the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) and the Asean Free Trad Area (AFTA) agreements.

The three international agreements would create an open market in the Asia Pacific region including in the construction business.

In the open market, Djoko said, foreign companies were allowed to compete for the national construction market and this could threaten national contractors unless they took a right stance towards the development.

Besides the challenge in the market Indonesian contractors also had to follow the development in technology as well as public expectation which was rising.

Technology development and public expectations were an opportunity as well as a challenge that had to be dealt with by players in the industry, he said.

The minister said one way to meet the challenges was creating technological innovations to meet the demand of the era which advanded quickly.

The demand for speedy and correct construction development with a low price requires technology innovations, he said.

He said the climate however had not yet developed well in Indonesia and in view of that he hoped participants could discuss the issue in the gathering.