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The Indonesian Footwear Industry Association (Aprisindo) says
that three foreign footwear producers are vying to take over the
operations of PT Spotec, PT Dong Joe and PT Tong Yang Indonesia, all of
which went bankrupt late last year.
"The companies that have expressed a willingness to lease the three
firms' factories and facilities are from China, Korea and Taiwan," said
Aprisindo chairman Eddy Widjanarko on Thursday.
He said that negotiations were now underway with the foreign firms and
hopes were mounting that the jobs of some 18,000 workers could be saved.
"But they are demanding that the three factories be free of all the
problems that were associated with the previous management."
The shareholders of the three companies fled the country after their
companies went insolvent, and since then Aprisindo, in collaboration
with the Industry Ministry, has been managing the liquidations.
"The three export-oriented companies closed down because of
mismanagement, not due to failures in their operations," Eddy said.
When asked about the amount of investment and takeover mechanisms
involved, Eddy replied, "It's still too early to discuss that."
Meanwhile, the Industry Ministry's director general of machinery, metal
and textile industries, Anshari Buchari, said that the ministry had not
yet received any proposals regarding takeovers.
In the meantime, according to Anshari, the government was continuing to
help PT Spotec, PT Dong Joe and PT Tong Yang seek buyers for products
that had originally been earmarked for Adidas.
"Adidas has already stated they will no longer cooperate with the old
managements of the factories, and that is why we are encouraging them
to find new buyers," he said.
He added that there were two options for saving the companies, either
new management or new ownership.
Despite the closure of the three factories, Anshari said that the
Indonesian footwear sector was still attractive due to the stricter
export quotas imposed by the U.S and the European Union on China and
Vietnam.
He estimated that Indonesian shoe exports reached US$1.8 billion in
2006, a 16 percent increase from the US$1.5 billion recorded in 2005.
For 2007, Aprisindo estimates that exports of Indonesian footwear will
rise by 20 percent due to increasing demand on the international market.
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