Jokowi Inaugurates New Mitsubishi Assembly Plant
Bekasi, West Java. President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo inaugurated Japanese carmaker Mitsubishi Motors Corporation's new assembly plant in Bekasi, West Java, on Tuesday (25/04).
With a production capacity of 160,000 cars a year, the plant will be a stepping stone for the ailing Japanese carmaker to seize the largest car market in Southeast Asia, according to Osamu Masuko, Mitsubishi's chief executive.
Mitsubishi operates the plant with Mitsubishi Motors Krama Yudha Indonesia, a joint venture with local company Krama Yudha.
The plant costs Mitsubishi Rp 7.5 trillion ($565 million) to build and now employs 3,000 people while also providing job orders to 212 direct local suppliers and 369 second-tier suppliers.
"The assembly facility in Bekasi is a symbol of our ambition to become a market leader in Indonesia," Masuko said.
Jokowi said the Mitsubishi plant stood as an example of his administration's effort to boost investment as a way of increasing economic growth and opening more job opportunities.
"As I always say, investment is important. To keep our economy moving, investors should not be bogged down by complicated procedures," Jokowi said.
"If the economy keeps growing, there will be more jobs for the people," he said.
The plant has already produced sport utility vehicles Pajero Sport and will churn out minivan Colt L300 and small MPVs in October 2017.
Mitsubishi plans to produce 80,000 cars from the assembly plant this year and ramp up production in the following years.
At least 20,000 units from the Bekasi plant will be exported to other Southeast Asian countries.
Mitsubishi's rival Toyota Motor, which controls more than a third of Indonesia's car market, has also been increasing its local production capacity in recent years.
Its local manufacturing unit, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia, has plotted Indonesia as the carmaker's main production base for Asia Pacific, its president director Warih Andang Tjahjono said last week.
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indonesia exports 169,000 cars to countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
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