Jakarta-based PT. Monang SianiparAbadi or MSA Kargo and Japanesefreight forwarder Hankyu ExpressInternational Co. Ltd. have launcheda joint venture called PT. HankyuInternational Transport Indonesia(HIT/ID).

President commissioner and founderof MSA Kargo, Monang Sianipar saidthe joint venture plan was initiated inSeptember 2005 when Hankyu Japandecided to establish a subsidiary companyin Indonesia with MSA Kargo.

By March 2006, HIT/ID was establishedand two months later Masahito Kawai was appointed as the director.

In October 2006, HIT/ID obtainedan operation license and in January2007 it started its Air-Export divisionafter it successfully started a sea-exportdivision in December last year.

Sianipar said the joint venture isanother step in solidifying the co-operationbetween the two companies.Hankyu started operations in Indonesiain 1992, and since 1995 it initiated apartnership with MSA Kargo. Hankyuowns a 60 percent majority stake in theventure with MSA owning the remaining40 percent.

Asked what prompted him to formthe joint venture, Sianipar said thatnowadays, if local forwarders want to gointernational they have to co-operatewith multinational companies. "Foreigncompanies need local companies, andvice versa," he said. "In the forwardingbusiness, we cannot just stay as localcompany. If we want to ship goods forinstance to Tokyo, Hong Kong, NewYork and many other cities around theworld, we need someone to take care ofour shipments there," he explained.

"Since MSA Kargo is unable to establishbranch offices abroad we needto work with Hankyu. On the otherhand, for shipments to Indonesia Hankyuneeds MSA to handle its deliveries," Sianipar said.

Hankyu is one of Japan’s largestfreight forwarding companies. It hasmany offices in more than twenty countriesworld-wide.

– Siktus Harson