Sofyan rejects Kadin's affirmative action idea<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Businessman Sofyan Wanandi supported the idea of
\nempowering indigenous people but rejected what he called a
\npartisan proposal put forward by the Indonesian Chamber of
\nCommerce and Industry.<\/p>\n
He suggested the government take comprehensive nonpartisan
\ncorrective measures by empowering small and medium enterprises.<\/p>\n
"If the government is really serious about empowering the
\nindigenous people economically, it would be better for it to
\nempower small and medium businesses because 99 percent of those
\ncompanies are owned by indigenous people," Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
He said the government had been campaigning about the urgency
\nof empowering small and medium enterprises. "But that's still
\nlimited to statements, not actions."<\/p>\n
Many small and medium enterprises still faced difficulties
\ngetting bank credit although the government had assigned
\ncommercial banks to allocate 20 percent of their outstanding
\ncredits to them, he said.<\/p>\n
"What we need is a real action -- not a partisan policy --
\nwhich benefits deprived people," Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
During a House Budget Commission hearing Monday, the chamber's
\nchairman, Aburizal Bakrie, suggested drafting a new economic and
\npolitical policy to propel indigenous people into the economic
\nmainstream.<\/p>\n
He said Indonesia needed such a corrective policy to reduce
\nthe imbalance in the economy. Indonesians of Chinese origin, who
\nmake up less than 5 percent of Indonesia's 200 million people,
\ncontrol more than 60 percent of the economy.<\/p>\n
An affirmative action program was needed to prevent potential
\nracial tensions which could be set off by large wealth gap
\nbetween the majority and the minority, he said.<\/p>\n
Aburizal cited Malaysia's New Development Policy -- formerly
\nknown as New Economic Policy -- as an example of a deliberate
\naffirmative action program to drive indigenous Malaysians into
\neconomic power.<\/p>\n
Sofyan said the idea of affirmative action programs to empower
\nindigenous people was out of date considering Malaysia, the only
\ncountry to implement such a program, had abandoned it.<\/p>\n
"Why should we propose to the government to adopt such an
\nunpopular program?" Sofyan said.<\/p>\n
He said Malaysia launched its New Economic Policy in 1970, one
\nyear after the country was rocked by race riots.<\/p>\n
"Indonesia has its own economic policy and problems. It's not
\nnecessary for us to copy Malaysia's way of handling its
\nproblems," he said.<\/p>\n
Sofyan, who is of Chinese decent, said such a partisan policy
\ncould encourage capital outflows, especially if bureaucrats
\nimplemented the policy overzealously like they did in Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Morgan Guaranty estimated that between 1976 and 1985, M$30
\nbillion from Malaysia's Chinese community left that country.<\/p>\n
Malaysia changed the New Economic Policy with the New
\nDevelopment Policy in 1991, which replaced numerical targets with
\ngeneral guidelines. (rid)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/sofyan-rejects-kadins-affirmative-action-idea-1447893297",
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