In terms of L&M Systems, how would you describe its structure and development over the years?

Actually, my acquisition of L&M systems is fairly recent, but it was founded 1985 in Singapore. The company did much of the Singapore government’s reclamation work and a lot in the inner city, toll roads and also parts of the port. In Indonesia, the BNI Building and Senayan City were built and reconstructed by L&M.

Later it was managed by aggressive professionals who were out of their depth, which is when the company ran into difficulties. When I heard of this, the founder asked me to take over, and we are now again trusted by the State-owned Cement Company to build another silo in East Indonesia.

When we spoke to Mr. Tumiyana of PT PP, he was expecting more than 20% new project contracts, how do you see this year developing for L&M systems?

We are expecting more than 20% growth and at least twice as many projects as 2016. We take pride in contributing to Indonesian landmark projects but when advertising our strengths we like to remain quiet, honouring our founder’s humble philosophy. For example, we worked on the western infrastructure communication project and although you won’t read about this, we’ve been awarded work on the other part.

Wouldn’t this also amount to some opportunities missed?

Perhaps. But considering our specialty work, it’s not a problem. We have more than enough assignments and even have to reject some projects; the airport train project for instance, simply because we don’t have the capacity. We prefer to seek short term assignments and If we take part in larger projects, we make sure to only be involved in separate stages.

In terms of the development of L&M Systems, are you then looking for partnerships to enable growth and take on larger projects?

Actually, yes. As a company, we are on the one hand planning for organic growth within our specialty areas. The other hand is a new joint operation with the Canadian company Redpath Mining; one of the world’s biggest underground mining contractors. I proposed this joint venture to L&M Systems because I want to capitalize on new knowledge, and we have already initiated projects in Papua among others. If these projects go without interruption, we are confident of reaching a hundred million dollars for L&M Systems this year.

How would you describe the vision for the company?

The future is in specialty contracts. One growth area is finding a solution to building on peatland in Sumatra or central Kalimantan. International construction companies, but they are reluctant to take on such challenging work so we have to develop our own technology. Our goal is to solve such challenges, allowing us to extend infrastructure to remote areas and broaden economic activity throughout Indonesia.

For infrastructure companies in Indonesia this is a unique time for growth and development, what are your plans going forward?

I’d like to see an Indonesian company become a major player in mining. Secondly, we would like to develop new technologies, such as bore piling, where we rely on German expertise. If we could use the technology we have developed within the mining sector, we already have better technology. In the past we have not properly valued in-house inventions, but under current legislation we will own these technologies for 25 years.

How would you describe Indonesia and its development from a macroeconomic perspective?

In any economic activity you need infrastructure, and the emphasis on this area is necessary. in the next fifteen to twenty years, I predict Indonesian infrastructure growth at about 7 to 10%. But the main problem is financing projects; as Indonesia doesn’t have enough sources to cover everything.

We still export too many raw products, without adding value, and this is an area the government needs to prioritize. Our president is a businessman and as such has a similar perspective, but he must take care of the financials in order to fuel growth.

The question here is to what extent can Indonesia finance this development on its own and at which point should it approach international financing to avoid slowing down its own growth?

“It is important for Indonesia to finance its own development. However we still know that to fuel growth of this magnitude, we will need financing from international institutions, as we ourselves cannot yet foster Indonesian development alone.”

We will need more financing and we will still need the Japanese International Cooperation Agency or similar Chinese institutions. Support from international financial institutions is important: relying solely on ourselves could jeopardise growth.