S. Korean firm named among final bidders for Indonesian sub project

ROKS Lee Eokgi (SS 071) kapal selam kelas Chang Bogo milik AL Korsel. Seoul menawarkan ToT untuk pembangunan kapal selam jenis ini pada Indonesia, jika Jakarta memilih Chang Bogo untuk TNI AL. (Foto: USN/Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class N. Brett Morton)

SEOUL, July 1 (Yonhap) -- A South Korean shipbuilder has been picked among the final candidates to export submarines to Indonesia, officials here said Friday.

   According to the Defense Acquisition Program Administration (DAPA), Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering Co. will compete with a French company for the project.

   "The project is worth about US$1 billion," an official with the DAPA said. "Companies from Germany and Russia were eliminated from the bidding."

   Indonesia plans to acquire three Type 209 submarines, which were first developed by Germans in the early 1970s.

   Indonesia expects to name a preferred bidder later this year. The DAPA official was optimistic about Daewoo's chances.

   "If the deal is reached to export submarines to Indonesia, it will allow us to increase submarine exports to other Southeast Asian countries," the official added.

   In May, the South's state-run Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) agreed to export T-50 trainer jets to Indonesia.

   Separately, an unidentified South Korean shipbuilder has been named a preferred bidder to export mine countermeasures ships to India, the DAPA said.

   An official said the Indian project is worth about $500 million, and the contract is expected to be reached in August.

YONHAP