PT Industri Telekomunikasi Indonesia (INTI) revealed that the company would begin talks with the Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Group to discuss a possible collaboration as part of its plan to enter Indonesia.

PT INTI’s president director Tikno Sutisna told The Jakarta Post on Friday that the state-owed telecommunication equipment company was scheduled to meet representatives from Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics manufacturer, next week to discuss the plan.

“We have been discussing the possibility to form a partnership with Foxconn both internally and with the Industry Ministry,” he said.

He added that the company was “very interested” to collaborate with Foxconn, saying “it takes more than one party to build a decent telecommunication equipment industry in the country”.

Tikno declined to elaborate further on what form of cooperation PT INTI would propose to Foxconn, whose clients include giant computer firms Apple Inc., Dell Inc. and Microsoft Corporation.

He acknowledged, however, that one of the possible plans would be to jointly produce high-technology electronic hardware locally, such as Apple’s tablet computer, the iPad.

PT INTI, whose clients include the country’s largest telecommunication operators PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia and PT Indosat, aims to reach a total of Rp 1.2 trillion (US$127.2 million) in net sales this year, up by 71.36 percent from the Rp 723.12 billion it booked in 2011.

Separately, Industry Minister MS Hidayat told reporters in Jakarta on Friday that he hoped the partnership plan succeeded, adding that such a collaboration could launch PT INTI’s name onto the international market.

Foxconn, a subsidiary of Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Ltd., is planning to spend between $8 billion and $10 billion over the next five years to set up manufacturing centers in Indonesia, as previously reported by the Post.

The firm’s technical team will come to Indonesia next week to visit an area in Banten province that is estimated to span more than 500 hectares, which has been allocated for the firm’s production facilities.

Foxconn, according to Hidayat, might begin ground breaking in December as it aimed to produce and sell its products by the middle of next year. (asa)

The Jakarta Post

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