Sidoarjo, Indonesia – Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) today announced it has recently invested more than USD 20 million to expand its lighting production facility at Sidoarjo (Surabaya), East Java. The expansion will facilitate the manufacturing of its Philips Master TL5 lamps for global export. The announcement was officiated today by The Minister of Industry of The Republic of Indonesia, Fahmi Idris, Chairman of the Investment Coordinating Board, Mohammad Lutfi together with Philips Chief Executive Officer, Gerard Kleisterlee. Philips fully supports the Indonesian government’s call on energy management by consistently promoting energy efficient lighting in various applications from commercial buildings to road lighting to city beautification and from homes to industries. With the availability of TL5 lamps, Philips offers yet another alternative to save energy and promote a healthier environment. Philips invented the TL5 lamp and it is the most energy efficient lamp in the market. The TL5 offers customers a high quality lighting solution with the most attractive cost of use and payback. This is enabled by leading energy efficiency and lifetime characteristics of the PhilipsTL5 lamp. In his opening address during the officiating ceremony, Mr. Kleisterlee said: “This clearly marks our commitment to increase our presence in emerging markets such as Indonesia. Indonesia has been a production base of our lamps since 1940, both for local and global markets, and exemplifies world class standards for the production of quality lamps.” Commenting on the investment in Indonesia, PT Philips Indonesia President Director, Robert Fletcher said, “This new investment comes on the back of last year’s expansion of our glass furnace facility, for which we allocated USD 10 million. Both investments complement each other well and allow us to be fully integrated in producing quality TL5 lamps clearly setting us apart from competition.” The lighting factory in Sidoarjo was built in 1940 to produce lighting bulbs. Today, Philips is the market leader for lighting in Indonesia, an achievement also garnered through the support of more than 50 distributors covering more than 50,000 outlets selling Philips lighting products in the country. |