Hayono for govt policy on business development<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono
\nIsman says those who criticize President Soeharto for being too
\ngenerous and helpful to the country's magnates of Chinese
\ndescent, should look back to the period of economic breakdown
\nthat Indonesia suffered during the latter half of the sixties.<\/p>\n
At the time, business opportunity was equally open to both
\nindigenous Indonesian citizens and those of Chinese origin, but
\nit was the Chinese who were quick to grab the opportunity and
\nthey proved more skillful in running the business, Hayono said.<\/p>\n
Hayono spoke at his office on Tuesday where he received 18
\nentrepeneurial youths from Kalimantan, Sumatra, Java and Sulawesi
\nresponsible for pioneering new businesses in their villages.<\/p>\n
President Soeharto was clever enough to use the Chinese to
\nbuild economic strength, Hayono said. Had he, for instance, opted
\nfor village cooperatives rather than capitalizing on the business
\nacumen of the Chinese, Indonesia's economic development would not
\nbe like it is today, Hayono added.<\/p>\n
This does not mean that the government currently belittles the
\nrole of cooperatives or is not interested in creating a conducive
\nclimate for the development of cooperatives, Hayono said..<\/p>\n
He said that in the 1950s and '60s state-owned companies were
\nfull of civil servants who knew little about businesses or
\ncooperatives. The majority were home to people preoccupied with
\npolitics and so the option went to the Chinese, he added.<\/p>\n
To be fair, the government has given opportunities to many
\nnative businessmen to run forest concessions, but most of them
\nhave ended up subcontracting their licenses to their Chinese
\ncounterparts, Hayono said.<\/p>\n
According to Hayono, this shows that they were not disposed to
\nrunning businesses. In the first half of the century, the option
\nof becoming a businessman was not popular as most native
\nIndonesians preferred to become civil servants.<\/p>\n
This climate was deliberately conditioned by the Dutch
\ncolonial government to prevent native Indonesians from becoming
\neconomically strong and from posing a threat to the Dutch.<\/p>\n
At the time, the Chinese community in Indonesia was relatively
\nsmall and their economic success would not have threatened the
\nDutch colonialists, Hayono said.<\/p>\n
Because the Chinese are more apt and able in business matters,
\nthey have made considerable progress economically, resulting in a
\nwide economic gap between native Indonesians and their fellow
\nChinese countrymen, Hayono said.<\/p>\n
The gap is the result of a natural course of history. Hayono
\nsaid that his office is now trying to minimize the gap. A plan to
\nset up a national entrepreneurship body to which small-scale,
\nself-starter entrepreneurs can turn for help is underway.
\nHopefully, President Soeharto will approve the plan, he added.<\/p>\n
Hayono said Chinese conglomerates have promised to help
\ndevelop the body which will focus on developing native young
\nIndonesian entrepreneurs into larger conglomerates.<\/p>\n
\"We need many indigenous conglomerates to strengthen our
\nmiddle-class society,\" Hayono said.<\/p>\n
Hayono acknowledged that some Chinese businessmen might have
\namassed their wealth by violating laws -- as in the Rp 1.3
\ntrillion (US$620 million) scam of the state-owned Bank
\nPembangunan Indonesia (Bapindo) which involves Chinese
\nbusinessman Eddy Tansil -- but that by no means are all Chinese
\nbusinessmen corrupt. (arf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hayono-for-govt-policy-on-business-development-1447893297",
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