The four companies are aerospace company PT Dirgantara Indonesia, ship building and general engineering company PT PAL, aircraft maintenance and overhaul company PT GMF Aero Asia, and arms manufacturer PT Pindad.
"We expect to cooperate with partners from other countries to develop our business," CEO of PT Dirgantara Indonesia Andi Alisjahbana said here on Thursday.
He said inter-country cooperation is essential for his company, because most of its customers are from governmental agencies such as military and police divisions.
According to the company`s official website, Dirgantara Indonesia has competence in aircraft design, development and the manufacturing of civilian and military regional commuter aircraft. Since its establishment in 1976, the company has successfully exploited its ability in the manufacturing industry and has diversified its products, not only in the field of aircrafts but also other areas such as Information Technology; Automotive, Maritime and Simulation Technology; Industrial Turbines and Engineering Services.
On the production line, the company has delivered over 300 units of aircraft and helicopters, defence systems, aircraft components and other services.
Meanwhile, CEO of aircraft maintenance and overhaul company PT GMF Aero Asia Richard Budihadianto expressed hope that cooperation with foreign countries would be beneficial to both sides.
"For example, a country may not have an adequate maintenance facility for certain types of planes. In that case, they may send them to us. The policy may be beneficial to the partnering company, as they can improve capability in plane maintenance from the cooperation with GMF Aero Asia," he noted.
GMF AeroAsia began in 1949 as the technical division of the national carrier Garuda Indonesia Airlines, acting as Garuda`s sole aircraft maintenance provider. In 1984, it changed its name to Garuda Maintenance Facility Support Center.
Subsequently, the support center developed into a Strategic Business Unit (SBU) called SBU-GMF. It was still under Garuda, but had the autonomy to manage its financial and human resources.
Its spin-off from Garuda Indonesia in April 2002 honed GMF AeroAsia`s competitive edge. Today, GMF AeroAsia is recognized as one of the largest aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul facilities in Southeast Asia.
In 2011, the company recorded profits of Rp54 billion. It expects to increase profits this year to Rp60 billion.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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