P

rinter maker PT Indonesia Epson Industry (IEI) aims to double its production from six million to 13 million printers in 2012 by opening a new plant on Friday.

The four-hectare facility at the East Jakarta Industrial Park in Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java, will help the company, a subsidiary of Seiko Epson Group (SEG), to meet growing demands for ink jet printers for enterprise applications in emerging markets, such as Brazil, Russia, India and China, IEI general manager Emile Pattiwael said.

An older Epson manufacturing plant has been around for about 16 years with a capacity of six million printers, 40 percent of Epson’s global production.

SEG director Hagata Tadoaki said Epson’s global production reached 15 million in 2010 and the new facility would help IEI contribute more than half of an ambitious production target of 22 million printers for the global market in 2012.

Currently Epson holds 20 percent of the global market share.

“With the new plant, we expect it can make up more than 50 percent of the target,” Hagata said during the opening ceremony.

He said the new plant would absorb 5,000 new workers, adding to the approximately 10,000 people already employed.

“We will also make a US$150 million investment in the next two years here,” Hagata added.

Emile added that the investment would be allocated for, among other things, providing machines, molds and dies.

Despite Epson producing a significant number of printers in Indonesia, Hagata said all printers manufactured in Indonesian plants would be exported.

Emile said the exports of all printers made in Indonesia was in line with the distribution and logistics policy of the Japanese principal.

Printers sold in Indonesia were partly provided by a plant in the Philippines, Emile said.

Speaking at the event, Industry Minister MS Hidayat said the local content of Indonesian plants in the printers reached 70 percent.

“This gives a significant space for supporting industries, which currently involves some 100 companies,” he said.

Hidayat said the exports of printers produced by Epson plants in Indonesia gave an important contribution to the export growth of local manufacturing industries.

“The electronics industry, including printer manufacturing, belongs to a high-growth industry and the government will continue to offer incentives for such industries,” he said, adding that the government already lifted import duties on a number of imported components.

Hidayat expected the domestic electronics industry would grow further and play an important part in the world’s electronics supply chain.

“During the 2010 to 2014 period we expect the electronics industry to expand by 10 percent per year, absorbing around 387,000 employees annually,” he said.

Japan was the fourth largest investor in Indonesia with a total investment of $712.6 million out of total foreign investment of $16.21 billion realized last year, according to the Investment Coordinating Board. (lnd)