FOREIGN FIRMS URGED TO FLOAT SHARES AT STOCK EXCHANGE

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Jan 7 (Antara) - Foreign companies, whose assets and income originate in Indonesia, are being urged to float their shares on the Indonesian Stock Exchange (BEI) as an Initial Public Offering (IPO).          There are some 52 foreign investment companies in Indonesia that fall into these categories. If the 52 foreign firms have their shares listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange, the BEI would value their total stake at Rp400 trillion.          Therefore, the BEI president director, Tito Sulistio, has delivered the list of the 52 foreign investment companies to Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati. The aim of the BEI is to ask the government to encourage those companies to launch IPOs on the Indonesian Stock Exchange.          Tito said there are 52 foreign companies conducting business in the country, having a potential of listing Rp400 trillion worth of shares on the BEI.          He said among those 52 companies, three have indicated interest in launching initial public offerings (IPO) at the BEI this year. Two of the foreign companies are operating in the mining sector, while the other is in the property sector.