Entrepreneurship drive to be launched today
Entrepreneurship drive to be launched today
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is scheduled to launch a
national entrepreneurship drive to coincide with today's
celebration of Cooperatives Day.
Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises Subiakto
Tjakrawerdaya said here yesterday that the main aim of the
campaign is to create as many new entrepreneurs as possible to
support the rapid growth of the business sector.
"As more and more entrepreneurs enter the business sector,
hopefully monopolistic and cartel-like practices will no longer
exist in the country," Subiakto said.
He noted that the campaign's target groups include business
people, especially those affiliated with small and medium
enterprises as well as cooperatives, students, school or
university drop-outs and youth groups.
Under Presidential Instruction No. 4/1995, Minister Subiakto
is to coordinate the drive with 16 other ministers, the governor
of Bank Indonesia (the central bank) and all 27 provincial
governors.
The government has budgeted Rp 1.59 trillion (US$715 million)
for the campaign until March 1999. The funds are dispersed among
a number of ministries which have direct control of small
businesses. The government has allocated Rp 200 billion for the
campaign this fiscal year, Rp 449 billion for the next fiscal
year, Rp 471 billion for 1997-98 and Rp 471.2 billion for 1998-
99.
The campaign will also be financed with some Rp 100 billion
per annum, which will be collected from the contributions of
state-owned companies.
Under a government regulation, state-owned companies are
required to set aside up to five percent of their profits for the
development of small and medium-size businesses and cooperatives.
Operation
Soeharto Prawirokusumo, chief of the research and development
center at the Ministry of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises,
explained that the campaign would be divided into three
operational phases -- institutionalization, socialization and
development of entrepreneurship at targeted layers of society.
The institutionalization program will include coordination
among related institutions, preparations of software, the
establishment of information centers for small and medium-size
enterprises and the mobilization of counselors, trainers and
consultants.
Minister Subiakto acknowledged that the current business
climate was not yet conducive to the development of smaller
businesses. "But of course, we will improve it further."
Procedures to get business licenses and to obtain credits, for
example, are still byzantine.
The minister noted that to provide better legal protection for
small and medium enterprises, the government submitted a bill to
the House of Representatives yesterday.
Prawirokusumo explained further that the socialization scheme
would include advertising, sponsorship and publication through
both print and electronic media.
He said the entrepreneurship program would include training,
guidance and counseling, apprenticeships, comparative studies and
the provision of cheap funds. (rid)