GOVERNMENT PURCHASES 
The importance of Government purchases in the Netherland East 
Indies should not be overlooked by American firms desiring to obtain 
a share of the electrical trade of that territory. The Government, 
which in 1928 supplied a third of the power used in the territory, is 
probably the largest individual purchaser. Government purchases 
are divided into two classes: Goods purchased locally and those 
purchased in the Netherlands. 
Local purchases of electrical equipment are made through the 
Government Purchasing Department (I. C. A.), Bandoeng, and usu- 
ally include transmission-line materials and small substation and tele- 
phone equipment. The bulk of the power-plant equipment is pur- 
chased through the technical branch of the Department of Colonies 
at The Hague. Local purchases can be made only from firms estab- 
lished or registered in the Netherlands. No American firm can expect 
to get a share of this business unless it is represented in the territory. 
The I. C. A. is usually governed. in its choice of equipment to be pur- 
chased by the recommendations of the Bureau of Water Power and 
Electricity. 
Purchases in the Netherlands can only be made from firms that are 
represented in the Netherland East Indies by an electrical engineer, 
either their own representative or agent. Bids are submitted to the 
Department of Colonies on a certain date, and the electrical engineer 
representing the manufacture must submit a copy of the bid one 
month later to the Bureau of Water Power and Electricity at Bandoeng. 
The bids are opened in Bandoeng, and the recommendations of the 
local bureau are cabled to The Hague. 
Goods purchased locally are first inspected by the Bureau of Water 
Power and Electricity, while goods purchased in Europe are inspected 
by a representative of the Department of Colonies. The Netherland 
East Indies Government also has a representative in the United States, 
and in cases where goods are purchased there, they are also inspected 
during manufacture. ) 
As explained previously, Government purchases are lmportant. 
An American firm interested in the Netherland East Indies markets 
should satisfy the Government regulations, which means that it 
must first secure the service of a firm of electrical engineers as agents 
or else keen its own factory representative in the territory. 
PUBLIC-UTILITY PURCHASES 
A few American firms are obtaining a small volume of business 
from the public-utility companies, but the bulk of this business goes 
to German firms which are indirectly connected with the companies 
through having the same secretaries or through financial connections. 
Two of the largest companies, A. N. I. E. M. and G. E. B. E. O,, 
purchase the bulk of their requirements twice a year by a joint order. 
Preference will always be shown Continental manufacturers who are 
interested financially or otherwise in enterprises in the Nether- 
land East Indies. American firms will have fo tace this additional 
handicap. 
CENERAL ENGINEERING FIRMS 
No American electrical manufacturer is represented by an organi- 
zation in the Netherland East Indies that is in a position to quote for 
the complete construction of a large installation such as a power house,