BANDUNG, November 4 (EngineeringDaily) -- The Indonesian government's vision to develop its maritime industry has attracted a lot of market players in this sector, including many companies from abroad. Recently, Saab, a Swedish leading company in the defense and security industry, announced plans to develop a shipbuilding plant in Banyuwangi, East Java province, in collaboration with local partners.
The plans for the project began with the visit of Swedish Ambassador to Indonesia, Johanna Bismar Skoog, along with a number of Swedish corporate leaders to Banyuwangi on the 1st and 2nd of November 2014. The goal of the company will be to construct a plant together with local partners in Banyuwangi with the capacity to produce various types of ships.
Executive Vice President of Saab, Mikael Olsson, said the company officially opened its representative office in Indonesia last year and has started fostering cooperation with the local manufacturing industry in Banyuwangi for shipbuilding. The ships will be produced by a joint effort between foreign technicians and Indonesians, including locals from Banyuwangi that meet certain competency requirements.
In essence, this cooperation plan is an effort to strengthen and improve the collaboration between the foreign company and its local partners. "We will also undergo a technology and knowledge transfer with our partners, because this is a mandatory part in the cooperation program," said Olsson.
The regent of Banyuwangi, Abdullah Anas Anwar, welcomes the cooperation with Sweden because of the country’s well-known advanced technology development. According to the regent, the technology transfer between foreign investors and local partners could greatly increase the capacity of human resources in the region.
"They (Sweden) have a lot of innovation, and we know that innovation is the key to a nation’s competitiveness. We expect the entry of the Swedish company could be a stimulant to foster a culture of innovation in the region. Banyuwangi is an especially good area for an innovation stimulus because it has a lot of campuses, ranging from private entities, a state polytechnic school, even a flight school, "said Anas, which means there will be many young entrepreneurs able to jump on the innovation train.
At the moment, no further information about the amount of investment or the details of shipbuilding facility has been released, but it is likely that Saab will develop the electronic and control technologies, while the local partners in Banyuwangi will focus on ship construction. Since the time of the Majapahit Kingdom in the 15th century, Banyuwangi has been known as one of the centers of ship manufacturing, and it looks to continue that tradition for the foreseeable future.
By Ismail Al Anshori
