The State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Minister has encouraged state-owned oil and gas giant Pertamina to expand its fuel business to neighboring countries such as Thailand, Vietnam and especially to Myanmar, where Pertamina have been urged to operate gas stations by 2018.
“With their prime-service in the gas station business, Pertamina must be able to compete and not only in Indonesia. One day I hope to see Pertamina gas stations in Vietnam, Thailand and certainly, in Myanmar,” said Rini in Jakarta.
Rini also urged other SOEs to expand business to other ASEAN countries in the lead up to and during the implementation of ASEAN economic community (AEC) next year. “Recently, Bank BNI were granted permission to open a branch office in Myanmar,” she said.
Pertamina marketing director Ahmad Bambang acknowledged that the company had joined a tender for a gas station project in Myanmar. If Pertamina were to win the bid, the company could be expected to establish numerous gas stations throughout the country.
The government of Myanmar have demanded that Pertamina cooperate with the Myanmar state-owned company, Myanmar Petroleum Product Enterprises, with the majority of shares to be held by the local company, he further explained.
“If we win, we will operate 1,300 gas stations in cooperation with this Myanmar state-owned company,” Ahmad said.
Source: The Jakarta Post
