Amien questions privatization plan
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Speaker Amien Rais questioned on Friday the government's plan to sell a number of state companies, saying that the policy would cause the nation to suffer losses in the future.
Amien expressed fear of a possible rise in the number of unemployed if those state companies were sold to foreign investors.
"If the government continues this move, I fear this nation will go bankrupt in the near future," Amien said after receiving protesting employees from the Bandung-based PT Pos Indonesia at his office in Jakarta.
Amien said that if the foreign investors controlled the major state companies, they could possibly not employ Indonesian workers, thereby leading to massive unemployment.
It would be fortunate for even low-ranking Indonesian workers to be recruited, he said.
"I don't understand why there is a government which wants to sell its state companies," Amien said.
A consortium led by U.S.-based Farallon last month purchased 51 percent of BCA, the country's largest retail bank.
The government is planning to sell another 25 state companies this year.
The moves are part of efforts to raise Rp 6.5 trillion to plug the budget deficit. The Indonesian Bank Restructuring Agency (IBRA) is targeting collecting Rp 33.5 trillion from the sale of assets of non-performing banks.
Among the state companies to be sold off are PT Angkasa Pura (airport), PT Pelindo (seaport), PT Indo Farma (pharmaceutical), PT Pupuk Kaltim (fertilizer), PT Sarinah (shopping mall), PT Krakatau Steel (steel), PT Telkom, PT Indosat (telecommunications) and PT Kimia Farma (pharmaceutical).
Amien admitted that he fully understood the paradigm of the capital market regime, which was marked with privatization, free markets and the absence of import duties.
As a sovereign country with patriotism, however, the sales of state firms must be the last choice, he said.
"If there is another way, selling state firm should be avoided."
Quoting information from Minister of National Development Planning Kwik Kian Gie, Amien said that the sale of Bank Niaga was just a matter of time.
According to Amien, the Soekarno-Hatta international airport had been offered to the management of the Schiphol airport in the Netherlands.