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Technology Stocks : INDONESIA'S PT TELECOM(TLK) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Duke who wrote (251)	2/4/1998 10:52:00 PM
From: Duke	Respond to of 947

JAKARTA IPTN not a liability, will never be closed: Habibie INDONESIA'S much-maligned aircraft manufacturer IPTN has never been a budget liability for the country and will never be closed down, Research and Technology Minister Bacharudin Jusuf Habibie vowed in a report received here yesterday. "IPTN has never bankrupted the country," he said at an aerospace congress on Tuesday. "Since it was founded in 1976, IPTN has earned US$2.464 billion (S$4.14 billion) from selling a variety of high-tech products like airplanes, helicopters and weapons systems. IPTN is also a sub-contractor and worldwide service provider." A pet project of Mr Habibie's, and favoured by President Suharto as part of his push to boost Indonesian technology, IPTN has faced widespread criticism and allegations that it thrived on government hand-outs and other assistance. The International Monetary Fund made it a condition of its US$40 billion bail-out deal with crisis-ridden Indonesia last month that the state-owned enterprise receive no further assistance. But Mr Habibie, saying he wanted to put an end to "groundless accusations", said the country's total investment in IPTN was limited to some US$1.308 billion, the state Antara news agency reported. Initial funding had been provided by the state-owned Pertamina oil firm. A US$2 billion N-1230 commercial jet project would be financed by a public share issue through the privately-owned company PT Dua Satu Tiga Puluh and a prototype would be rolled out in the next five years. IPTN assembles fixed-wing planes as well as helicopters. -- AFP