79 firms support partnership program

JAKARTA (JP): Seventy-nine more conglomerates have declared support for the government-sponsored program to develop partnerships with small and medium businesses, Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto Tjakrawerdaya said yesterday.

The minister said the 79 conglomerates would set up a body to organize and coordinate all their activities related to the partnership program.

"They have actually set up partnerships with small-scale businesses but they consider it better to coordinate their activities through a cooperation forum," he said after a meeting with business leaders.

He said that none of the 79 conglomerates were included in the Jimbaran group of large businesses.

The Jimbaran group includes 48 tycoons who met in Jimbaran, Bali, two years ago to work out tangible programs to help small business and eradicate poverty.

"The new group is not going to compete with the Jimbaran group. It is simply another group of big businesspeople like the Jimbaran group," Subiakto said.

The meeting yesterday was presided by Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto. The chairman of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Aburizal Bakrie, also attended.

The 79 conglomerates include Mercu Buana group, Sahid, Matahari, Gobel, Gramedia, Kalbe Farma, Nugra Sentana, Kalimanis, Texmaco, Jan Darmadi, Hadtex, ALatief Corp., Tamara, Gunung Sewu, Tempo, Batik Keris, Mustika Ratu, Modern and Bukaka.

"It's easier to coordinate a smaller number of businesspeople than a larger one," he said.

The conglomerates set up a task force yesterday headed by Sukamdani Gitosardjono of the Sahid group. The task force is expected to establish a formal organization for the group.

The task force includes Mochtar Mandala of Bank Duta, Harry Darmawan of Matahari group, Rachmat Gobel of Gobel group, Mooryati Soedibyo of PT Mustika Ratu and Achmad Kala of Bukaka group.

Sukamdani said the task force would meet for a week to prepare an organizing committee and make a comparative study of various partnership programs, including those being implemented by the Jimbaran group, to find the most suitable and effective one.

"For sure, we shall not raise funds and simply distribute them among small-scale businesses and cooperatives like the Jimbaran group has been doing. We will instead mobilize the potential of large and medium businesses to help small ones and cooperatives improve themselves," he said.

The Jimbaran group spent Rp 2.1 trillion (US$889 million) last year on its partnership programs with small businesses and cooperatives.

State enterprises have also been developing partnership programs with small enterprises and cooperatives. They have spent Rp 687 billion on their programs since 1990. (jsk)