79 firms support partnership program
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)