“ My aim is to establish a store at every city across the country; particularly in cities with immense potential. ”
Depo Bangunan currently has seven stores in Indonesia which I believe is not enough. My aim is to establish a store in every city across the country; particularly in cities with immense potential. On a consumer level, we want people to remember our tagline of “For building material needs, remember Depo Bangunan.” In striving to deliver the highest quality products to our consumers, we always ensure a steady supply of goods at our stores. Moving in-line with Depo Bangunan’s 20th anniversary, we are looking to set up stores in Bekasi by mid-2017, Surabaya by end-2017, and these are only a few of our store development plans for the future. Furthermore, because our company places importance on our human resources, we have also carried out various measures in education and training to ensure that we employ a well-equipped team. We have extended this initiative to professional training so as to improve upon their career path.
Another area that we are looking to improve on is our IT infrastructure which is a longstanding problem within our company. We have already taken the necessary steps to develop our IT infrastructure and for the future, we will make our entry in the e-commerce industry. Moving forward, we will strive towards applying for an initial public offering given the strong interest of our company in addition to our industry standing.
The past two years has been a challenge for our company given the condition of the market as evident through a decrease in our company’s sales. We acknowledge that the government’s tax amnesty programme has slightly improved conditions for the local market. It is worth noting that the enormous success of the programme has helped to raise awareness on the importance of abiding by the country’s tax regulations. Whilst it is true that the market has slowed down, I still encourage my staff to continue working hard in order to bolster Depo Bangunan’s growth performance.
In regards to our company’s performance in the past few years, we have experienced double-digit national sales growth due to various programmes such as special product discounts. From a regional perspective, Depo Bangunan’s stores in western Indonesia have experienced slower growth due to their dependency on raw commodities compared to those situated in eastern Indonesia. This has resulted in weaker consumer spending hence bringing about an effect to our company’s sales. I believe that despite the economic slowdown, there will always remain a market segment that companies can tap into for spurring growth. As such, it depends on how a company is able to maintain their competitiveness level in the market. In addition, taking into account Indonesia’s housing backlog problem and the country’s growing population among other factors, I am optimistic about our industry’s future outlook.
I highly applaud President Joko Widodo for his efforts thus far as evident through the national infrastructure development projects spanning throughout Indonesia. We also commend his administration’s attempt to combat corruption which we know has overshadowed Indonesia in the past. Going forward, the government will need to improve bureaucracy given that there remain numerous setbacks such as the duration for license issuance. I am certain that Indonesian citizens will continue to have high hopes for the future of this country especially given the resources and potential which are available here.
For the past two years, there have been a number of overseas companies that have approached Depo Bangunan in preparation of the ASEAN Economic Community. Many of these companies are from South Korea, Thailand, India, and Europe requesting data in addition to market analysis on building materials in Indonesia. The entry of international players in the domestic market should encourage local companies to increase their quality standards so as to compete with overseas companies. In doing so, Indonesian companies should also push for innovation in their product portfolio.
At Depo Bangunan, we have adopted stringent quality control measures that must be met by vendors who sell their products at our store. We do not allow any products that do not fulfil our company’s product quality standards which is an aspect that we apply for local and international brands. Through the implementation of this rule, we can assure consumers have access to genuinely high-quality products thus illustrating our readiness in facing the ASEAN Economic Community.
With Indonesia’s continued housing backlog issue, Depo Bangunan is expected to participate in resolving this issue by positioning our stores in cities that have numerous opportunities. Nonetheless, as Indonesia looks to realise its potential of becoming a top 10 economic powerhouse by 2030, we also encourage foreign investors to partake in this growth story.