Fears over conglomerates dismissed
Fears over conglomerates dismissed
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto dismissed yesterday fears over the growing dominance of a score of conglomerates in Indonesia's economy.
The President said that Indonesia has solid regulations to protect the interests of the people from the growing activities of those conglomerates.
Speaking at a meeting with members from the association of puppet masters, Soeharto guaranteed that the operations of conglomerates would benefit not only their owners but also the whole people.
"Economic sectors which are directly related to the lives of the people are controlled by the government and are used for the welfare of the whole people." he told the puppet masters, concerning the significance of public interest in the country's 1945 Constitution.
The puppet play, one of the most popular art performances in Java, does not only entertain but also tell stories about the lives of kings.
Soeharto did not mention the names of the conglomerates but acknowledged that the success in Indonesia's economic development was partly due to the use of their business potency.
However, he said that continued involvement of those conglomerates in the country's economic development has raised jealousy in the public.
People then feared that the conglomerates' business strength would enable them to control the country's economy, the President said.
"I don't think we need to worry about the conglomerates' operations because their existence also benefits the people," he said, citing that textile and food manufacturers would not only make cloth or food for their owners only but also for people.
"More importantly, they pay tax," he added.
The President said that a certain business group might be allowed to operate in an economic sector directly related to the lives of the people if the government is not capable of doing so.
"But the government has the power to guide and control them in order to secure the people's interests," he said, adding that the operations of the existing conglomerates, mostly owned by businessmen of Chinese descent, have generally been made in compliance with the government's development guidelines.
"What if conglomerate owners run away? There is no problem because they will not be able to bring their industrial plants with them," he said, allaying the public's concern over the possible pullout of investors from the country.
Soeharto stressed that the operations of business giants would not, therefore, cause any harm to either the country's economy or its people's lives.
During the rare meeting with the puppet masters, Soeharto also explained the success of the government in raising exports and in making the country self-sufficient in rice during the first stage of the country's long-term development plan, which ended in March last year.
He said that the success in the first 25-year development period was not only marked by massive developments in the country's infrastructure but also in the government's achievement to significantly reduce the number of the people living in poverty.(hen)