Business acumen

Business acumen

About half a century ago, in the beginning of the 1950s, when
Indonesia had just got rid of the yoke of colonialism, the
government thought it expedient to create a class of Indonesian
entrepreneurs. Naturally capital was needed to do business. So a
unique incentive system was introduced. Almost all import
commodities were confined to Indonesian (read indigenous,
although not officially stated) importers. This prompted tycoons,
manufacturers, etc. to import from abroad through intermediaries
of the so-called Benteng group of importers -- for a certain
commission of course.

It was also a windfall for the numerous brokers at that time.
I would categorized the Benteng group of importers into two
groups. Group A consisted of shrewd people who had a certain
(inborn) business sense: although the so-called "indent"
commissions accumulated to a sizable amount, they lived a frugal
life and used the commissions as working capital. When the
indenter ordered a particular commodity, the importer added, for
instance, 10 percent (which became larger as time went on) of the
letter of credit (L/C) amount for his own account, in order to
avoid buying unsalable commodities. And it was not so difficult
to find a buyer for that commodity in the market.

By and large, such Benteng importers became not only rich, but
they became businessmen of international repute, starting from
scratch.

Let's take a look at the B-group importers. This group
consisted of happy-go-lucky people, who regarded this special
incentive from the government a reward for their struggle for the
country's independence. Unlike the A-group people, they bought a
mansion and a Mercedes-Benz in order to enhance their prestige as
soon as they were financially in a position to do so.

A. DJUANA

Jakarta