"The achievement must be maintained and even improved."
Gresik, East Java (ANTARA News) - State enterprises minister Dahlan Iskan has applauded Semen Gresik Group after it was recognised as one of the top 2,000 companies in the world.

"Semen Gresik Group has successfully become a world-class company, because the synergy among its cement companies PT Semen Gresik, PT Semen Padang and PT Semen Tonasa has been solid," he said here on Thursday.

Dahlan expressed his appreciation during a walk event with board members and employees of PT Semen Gresik and community members of Gresik city.

Board members at the event included PT Semen Gresik president director Dwi Soetjipto and PT Petrokimia Gresik president director Hidayat Nyakman.

Forbes Global had earlier released the names of 10 Indonesian companies that were included among the world`s 2,000 most profitable companies. Six of them - PT Bank Rakyat Indonesia Tbk., PT Bank Mandiri Tbk., PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia Tbk., PT Bank Negara Indonesia Tbk., PT Perusahaan Gas Negara Tbk., and PT Semen Gresik Tbk - are state-owned companies.

"I thank the management of PT Semen Gresik for their hard work that has made the company capable enough to be among world-class companies. The achievement must be maintained and even improved," Dahlan said.

The minister expressed hope the inclusion of the six state-owned companies in the elite list would motivate other state-owned companies to follow suit and improve their performance.

"If there is a will, I am convinced other state-owned companies could certainly rise to improve their performance and make an achievement at the global level," he said.

Meanwhile, Dwi said the success must be regarded as a challenge for Semen Gresik Group to continue to develop itself and innovate in order to keep competing in the global market.

"We will continue various programmes of innovation, efficiency and business development. The good synergy will be further stepped up," he added.

With regard to business development, PT Semen Gresik has planned to build two plants in Java and is also targeting possible acquisition of cement plants in Vietnam and Myanmar.
(Uu.H-YH/A/INE/B003/KR-BSR)

Editor: Priyambodo RH
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