Jakarta (ANTARA News) - A South Korean tire maker Hankook Tire plans to build a new tire plant at a cost of US$1.2 billion in Bekasi, West Java.

In the first phase, the company would invest US$353 million in the project scheduled for completion in 2014, Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board (BKPM) Gita Wirjawan said on the occasion of "Hankook Tire`s Planned Investment in Indonesia" at the BKPM building here on Thursday.

Also present at the event were Industry Minister MS Hidayat, Hankook Tire Vice Chairman & CEO Seung Hwa Suh, and Hankook Tire Executive Vice President Hyun Bum Cho.

Gita said the construction of the plant with a production capacity of 6 million tires a year would be started in the first quarter of 2011.

The plant which will produce tires for four-wheeled and two-wheeled vehicles will be built on 60 hectares of land in Cikarang, Bekasi, West Java. Once the project is completed, Indonesia will become a hub for Hankook tires in Southeast Asia.

Hyun Bum Cho said by building a new plant in Indonesia, the company would be one of the world`s five largest tire producers, with a production capacity of 100 million units a year in 2014.

The company is expected to sell its products from the Bekasi plant in a number of Asian and American countries.

Hankook now has five tire plants, including those in Hungary and China.(*)

Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
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