Adi confirms setting up people's economy agency

Adi confirms setting up people's economy agency

JAKARTA (JP): Controversial Minister of Cooperatives and Small
Enterprises Adi Sasono confirmed on Sunday that the government
was establishing an Agency for the Development of the People's
Economy (LPER).

However, he denied that the agency's establishment was carried
out discreetly.

"We have not disclosed the establishment of such an agency
because it is still being studied. So, it is not true that it is
being set up quietly or in a guerrilla kind of way," Adi was
quoted by Antara as saying.

He also expressed disappointment that the government's efforts
to help the needy always met with cynicism.

"Why is it that every government move to help the small people
always elicits unfriendly responses?" he asked.

Adi has reportedly set up the agency as part of his ambition
to boost the lower end of the business sector.

Some reports said the new agency would receive Rp 10 trillion
(US$1.3 billion) in capital and that the government would shift
its ownership in some state-owned enterprises to the agency.

"That's just presumption. Our discussions on the agency have
not yet reached that far," Adi said.

He reiterated that the agency would not have anything to do
with taking over the assets of troubled banks which cannot repay
the central bank's liquidity loan facilities.

He stressed, however, that such an agency was crucial to build
a strong foundation for a people-oriented economy.

In the past three decades under former president Soeharto, who
resigned in May, a large share of the economy was controlled by a
handful of conglomerates, most of which are controlled by ethnic
Chinese.

Adi, who was appointed a minister by his political ally
President B.J. Habibie in June, has recently proposed a
"redistribution of assets."

This concept was blasted by many observers, who charged Adi's
populist policy was merely a "Robin Hood" ploy to win political
favor and that it would not develop real entrepreneurs.

Responding to this, Adi argued: "A handful of conglomerates
have received facilities this whole time, and we have been unfair
toward the people by providing loans worth trillions of rupiah
only to the large businesses."

"If it is true that the small and medium-scale businessmen had
no sense of entrepreneurship, then why is it that the large
businesses were the first to collapse while the small ones
continue to survive during the crisis?" he asked.

"On the other hand, if the large businesses were more
entrepreneurial than the small businesses, how come the former
were the ones which bribed government officials, stole state
assets, and fled with their money to Singapore or Hong Kong?" he
added.

Adi has been charged with being anti-market, anti-tycoons, and
anti-Chinese by his critics. (das)