High costs hurt small enterprises: U.S. senator<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): United States Senator Christopher Bond suggested
\nyesterday the Indonesian government eliminate the country's high
\nbusiness costs to stimulate the growth of small enterprises.<\/p>\n
Abolishing various \"contributions\" and illegal fees would be
\nthe first step to creating a conducive atmosphere for small
\nentrepreneurs, Republican Senator Bond said in his address to a
\nluncheon held by the United States Committee of the Indonesian
\nChamber of Commerce and Industry.<\/p>\n
\"The first thing the government should stop doing is creating
\nunnecessary burdens,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Bond, the chairman of Congress' committee on small business,
\nattended yesterday's luncheon with Senator Bill Frist. The two
\nwere on a three-day visit to Jakarta to meet government officials
\nand businesspeople.<\/p>\n
They met President Soeharto earlier yesterday.<\/p>\n
Bond suggested the government get small entrepreneurs together
\nto find out the problems they faced in business. The more input
\nthe entrepreneurs provide, the better the government can help
\nthem, he said.<\/p>\n
\"The businesses shouldn't be asking the government how to
\nproduce things... The government only taxes and regulates,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"The ones who best know the business are the entrepreneurs
\nthemselves,\" he said, adding that entrepreneurs would develop
\nbest if the government sets up clear regulations and policies.<\/p>\n
Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Enterprises Subiakto
\nTjakrawerdaya, who attended the luncheon, said the government was
\ntrying to cut back high economic costs.<\/p>\n
\"Our deregulation measures and campaigns against illegal fees
\nare part of our effort in that direction,\" Subiakto said after
\nthe luncheon.<\/p>\n
While acknowledging most of Bond's suggestions, he disagreed
\nwith Bond's proposal to limit the government's role in developing
\nsmall businesses.<\/p>\n
He said the government should be \"actively involved\" in
\npromoting small enterprises and not just content with the mere
\nrole of taxing and regulating.<\/p>\n
\"The government has a duty to assist small businesses,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Small businesses employ more than 84 percent of the total work
\nforce and contribute almost 38 percent to gross domestic product,
\nSubiakto said.<\/p>\n
The country's 34 million or more small enterprises mostly
\nengage in agriculture (63.1 percent), trade (17.4 percent) and
\nprocessing industries (7.5 percent).<\/p>\n
Almost 91 percent of small-scale entrepreneurs have no more
\nthan an elementary education, and 9 percent have finished junior
\nhigh school.<\/p>\n
Kirsten Edmondson, an International Republican Institute
\nprogram officer, said yesterday the Washington-based institute
\nwas planning to launch a program to help small businesses in
\nIndonesia.<\/p>\n
She told The Jakarta Post the program would involve
\npartnerships between the institute, the Indonesian government and
\nsmall-scale entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
The program would bring together American business experts,
\nbusiness-association members, the Indonesian government and
\nsmall-scale entrepreneurs.<\/p>\n
The program would focus on sharing experiences, discussing the
\nchallenges faced by small-scale entrepreneurs and finding ways to
\naddress them.<\/p>\n
\"The small businesses will be expected to tell what they
\nexpect from the government... Their input will be particularly
\nvaluable for the upcoming deregulations that the government will
\nbe issuing next year,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Edmondson said the program, to be funded by donations from
\nprivate U.S. businesses and a congressional endowment, would be
\nlaunched in January and last from three to five years. (pwn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/high-costs-hurt-small-enterprises-us-senator-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}