Small business needs better coordination to develop<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Better coordination among government
\ninstitutions, banks and the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and
\nIndustry is needed to accelerate development of small businesses
\nin the country, a senior official said.<\/p>\n
Banks, for example, can increase their cooperation with Kadin
\nby allowing the latter's provincial offices to guarantee the
\nrepayment of credits owed to small businesses, Director General
\nfor the Development of Small Enterprises Sidik Prawiranegara said
\nat the opening of a two-day meeting.<\/p>\n
The meeting will discuss ways to promote the development of
\nsmall enterprises, which generally face problems related to lack
\nof capital, skills and market access.<\/p>\n
Sidik said intensive discussions will be needed to formulate
\nconcrete measures for improved cooperation among government
\ninstitutions, banks and Kadin.<\/p>\n
He said the government has been trying to support the
\ndevelopment of small enterprises by allowing state firms to
\nallocate up to five percent of their after-tax profits for
\nassisting small businesses and cooperatives.<\/p>\n
The government, under Presidential Decree No. 16\/1994, also
\nallowed its institutions to appoint small enterprises to carry
\nout projects without having to take part in tenders.<\/p>\n
The government has also required banks to allocate no less
\nthan 20 percent of their outstanding credits for small businesses
\nand cooperatives.<\/p>\n
Role<\/p>\n
\"I urge Kadin's provincial offices to play a more active role,
\nspecifically, by providing recommendations to small enterprises
\nwhich have shown themselves to be reliable in carrying out the
\nprojects of government institutions or state-own companies,\"
\nSidik added.<\/p>\n
However, the chief of Kadin's department for small-scale
\nbusinesses, Poppy Dharsono, said that the government's efforts to
\npromote the development of small enterprises are frequently
\nhampered by officials at local administration offices.<\/p>\n
She explained that sometimes high level government
\ninstitutions agree to award projects to small enterprises but
\nofficials at lower-level offices oppose their decisions and hold
\ntenders for the projects.<\/p>\n
Low-level government institutions sometimes delay payments for
\nmonths, causing tremendous losses to small enterprises, she said.<\/p>\n
Poppy also said that Kadin has provided consulting services
\nfor small businesses through its \"Rumah Indonesia\", which has
\nthus far trained 350 consultants from several provinces.<\/p>\n
The consultants work in provinces with monthly salaries of Rp
\n150,000 (about US$70), of which two thirds are provided by the
\nMinistry of Manpower and the remainder by Kadin. (yns)<\/p>",
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