Privatizing quick quick<\/p>\n
I refer to Mr. Seamus McElroy's letter Privatizing slowly-
\nslowly in The Jakarta Post on Sept. 11, 1998. He is right on the
\nmark. Not only is the privatization of state enterprises
\nnecessary, it should have begun last October.<\/p>\n
Permit me to give an example. In July, Brazil privatized its
\ntelecommunications company in a no holds barred total sell off in
\nwhich foreigners were free to buy a 100 percent stake. Bidders
\npaid US$19 billion, 60 percent over the minimum asking price. Had
\nthey not privatized the company in July and instead waited for
\nOctober's election, the money raised through the sale would have
\nbeen cut by half as a result of the Russian meltdown.
\nFurthermore, a demonstrated reluctance to privatize would have
\nsent the wrong signals to the market and the government may have
\nbeen force to devalue the Real. The lesson is clear -- the longer
\nyou take to become integrated into the global economy, the harder
\nit is to do. And there is no alternative.<\/p>\n
Would it be better to privatize Garuda Indonesia immediately
\nor continue to cut it in size until it ends up closing down as
\nPhilippines Airlines announced it would have to last week?
\nIndonesia is not sending the right signals to the market. When
\nwill PT Telkom be privatized? Is there a plan for an agency to
\nregulate telecommunications in a privatized environment? It is
\nnot good enough to simply transfer a state monopoly into the
\nprivate sector, so will licenses be issued to other companies so
\nthat they can set up operations and compete with a privatized
\nTelkom? These are a few of the questions the market would like to
\nhave answers to. The lukewarm talk of making state enterprises
\nprofitable before selling them and of possible restrictions to
\ninvestment is not convincing the market.<\/p>\n
OSVALDO COELHO<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/privatizing-quick-quick-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }