Jakarta (ANTARA News) - State Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno on Wednesday launched the Hotel Indonesia Group, formed after consolidating the existing state-owned hotels.

The event followed the initiatives undertaken by PT Hotel Indonesia Natour, PT Patrajasa, a subsidiary of the state-owned oil company PT Pertamina, and PT Aerowisata, a subsidiary of the state-owned airline company PT Garuda Indonesia Tbk.

The president director of the Hotel Indonesia Group, Iswandi Said, said at the ceremony that the synergy among various stakeholders was made possible after a cooperation agreement was signed among the three hotel companies on February 12 this year.

"It is hoped that the HIG would become a leader in the countrys hotel business," he added.

On this occasion, a logo of the HIG and its portal were also launched. Besides, cooperation agreements were signed with 16 other state-owned companies to take care of the supply chain, human resources and hotel management. These will help speed up the operations of the biggest state-owned hotels network.

At present, the HIG has 36 hotels including seven hotels belonging to Aerowisata, 12 hotels under the brand name of Indonesia Natour, seven under Patrajasa, nine of PT Pegadaian (state-owned pawnshop company) and one belonging to PT Taman Wisata Candi at the Borobudur Temple site in Central Java.

Minister Rini said she was proud of the merger of the state-owned companies hotels in the form of a consolidated group.

"With this merger, we will be able to demonstrate the quality of our state-owned hotels that represent the countrys culture," she stated.

She admitted that the HIG merger does not include the issue of ownership though the operations will now be run jointly.

"In the future, they will become a holding company," she disclosed.

She observed that under the HIG pattern, the government was hopeful that customers would have access to a variety of hotels catering to various needs.(*)

Editor: Heru Purwanto
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