Kao Indonesia Opens New Factory

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - PT Kao Indonesia has officially opened its new second factory, with an investment of US$128 million, on a 140,000-square-meter plot in Karawang International Industry City (KIIC) in West Java, as reported by Antara News.

PT Kao Indonesia is a joint company of Kao Corporation Japan and Indonesian PT Roda Mas, which was established in 1985 and had started its first factory in Cikarang, West Java.

"This new plant will play an important role as a production base, both for domestic and Asian markets," Kao Corporation's President and CEO Michitaka Sawada said during the opening ceremony in KIIC in West Java, on Thursday, June 19.

PT Kao Indonesia is also expected to generate employment for 400 people until the end of 2014.

Sawada noted that the establishment of the second factory in KIIC was mainly to support detergent production, which all this time had been produced by the factory in Cikarang.

"In the new plant, we will also produce a new variety of Attack detergent, called 'Jaz1', and disposable diaper 'Merries', which is imported from Japan," he said.

In the future, Kao aims to increase its production in the new factory, so that it not only meets the domestic supply needs, but also other countries' supply.

According to Kao Indonesia's Vice President and Director Marketing Division Musa Chandra, the opening of the second factory had improved the chances of exporting as the production capacity was also increased.

"Our production capacity is doubled by the opening of the second factory; hence there is a possibility of exporting. However, we will still focus on increasing the domestic supply at this point in time," Musa said.

The products of PT Kao Indonesia include detergent, women's sanitary napkins, body and skin care products, and disposable diapers.

ANTARA | AZI FITRIYANTI | FARDAH