Japanese and South Korean electronics companies Sharp Corp and LG plan to relocate their factories from Thailand and Vietnam, respectively, to Indonesia as part of their investment consolidation plans in Southeast Asia.

Indonesian Industry Minister Airlangga Hartanto said the relocations would further strengthen their operations in Indonesia, where they have built their respective production bases for a number of electronics products.

“We are monitoring the process. Discussions have been going on for quite some time,” Airlangga said at a post-Idul Fitri gathering at his office in Jakarta last week.

LG’s public relations officer was reluctant to elaborate on the company’s relocation plan when contacted by the Jakarta Post, while Sharp’s government relations officer said on Monday that the company’s relocation was part of plans to strengthen its Indonesian operations. He refused to elaborate further.

Meanwhile, the director for electronics and telematics at the ministry, Janu Suryanto, said Sharp would relocate its twin tub washing machine facilities from Thailand to its Indonesian production base in Karawang International Industrial City (KIIC).

“So there will be a production line addition. It will also be for the export market. Later on, it will employ hundreds of workers.” Janu told the Jakarta Post last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, LG will relocate its air-conditioning factory from Vietnam to its production facility in Legok, Tangerang.

“They will soon start production and will sell about 25,000 units in September this year,” Janu said. THE JAKARTA POST/ANN