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Cibitung-based manufacturer of safes and extinguisher products, PT Chubb Safes Indonesia, plans to export safety storage equipment to American markets, a top executive says.

PT Chubb Safes Indonesia operations manager Suyanto Salim said on Thursday the company aimed to expand its business to the US and Brazil.

'€œWe'€™re shooting for an estimated 25 percent of sales from those countries next year,'€ he said during a company visit at the MM 2100 Industrial Town in Cibitung, Bekasi, West Java.

Chubb Safes is a subsidiary of Swedish-based security service provider Gunnebo Security Group, which specializes in making safes and fire extinguishers.

In 2012, Chubb Safes sold 35 percent of its total production domestically and the rest to Asia, Africa, the Middle East and Europe, which is the firm'€™s biggest buyer.

Suyanto said the group had acquired shares of Hamilton Safe Companies, the US'€™s second largest producer and supplier of physical security products, in 2012 to steal a slice of the American market.

He said with very few companies offering varied products in the US, Chubb Safes would sell products with different characteristics as part of its strategy.

The firm, he said, manufactured storage and security products that followed a European certification standard and had a minimalist style and light shape to be offered to the US market.

Most storage and security products sold in the US, on the other hand, were usually heavy and old-fashioned, built to comply with the Underwriters Laboratories (UL) standard, he said.

YA Santoso, business area manager of PT Indolok Bakti Utama, distributor for Gunnebo Security Group products, said his company planned to keep annual sales growth at about 15 percent.

He said the company was optimistic to also meet next year'€™s sales target although Indonesia was experiencing an economic slowdown because safety and security businesses still had potential to grow here.

'€œWe can find many new local players in the safety and security business in Indonesia. Chinese companies also bloom here,'€ Santoso said.

'€œ[Also] every year the number of people needing to invest in security services and facilities is increasing, leading to more diversified customers,'€ he said.

He said the company had been selling safety storage and other security products, like vault doors, to private and state banks, gold shops and offices, as well as individuals.

He added that Indonesian consumers mostly preferred heavy and old-fashioned safes and storage. (tam)