New KT&G CEO attends groundbreaking ceremony for company's next Indonesian factories

KT&G’s new CEO Bang Kyung-man, fifth from the right, and other officials pose at the groundbreaking ceremony for the company's second and third factories in Indonesia on Friday. [KT&G]

KT&G’s new CEO, Bang Kyung-man, attended a groundbreaking ceremony for the Korean tobacco manufacturer's second and third factories in Indonesia, a nation that the company plans to establish as its largest export production hub, on Friday.

Bang's participation marked his first official overseas engagement since assuming the CEO position.

The ceremony took place on Friday in Surabaya, Indonesia. Bang and some 80 other key officials, including East Java Province Governor Adhy Karyono, Indonesian Ministry of Investment Deputy Minister Andi Maulana, and Commercial Attaché of the Embassy of Korea in Indonesia Han Jong-ho, attended the ceremony.

KT&G’s second and third factories in Indonesia, spanning approximately 190,000 square meters (2.04 million square feet) in total, boast a combined production capacity of up to 21 billion cigarette sticks per year. Scheduled to commence operations in 2026, the factories are expected to elevate KT&G’s total annual production capacity in the country to 35 billion sticks, solidifying the Southeast Asian nations as the company's “largest global production base” for exports, mainly to Southeast Asia.

Following the groundbreaking ceremony, Bang visited KT&G's first Indonesian factory in Surabaya to meet with employees. He also visited the company's Asia-Pacific headquarters in Jakarta and the western Jakarta branch of the Indonesian subsidiary to oversee performance in the region and monitor market conditions.

“Indonesia serves as our primary global production base, driving the expansion of our export business in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East markets,” Bang said. “We will continue to develop the global production hub in Indonesia as a core growth engine for the company.”

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]