Feasibility studies key to small company's progress
Feasibility studies key to small company's progress
JAKARTA (JP): Manpower Ministry and state-owned Bank Rakyat
Indonesia started yesterday a one week-course on entrepreneurship
feasibility for small and medium-scale businesspeople to help
them obtain collateral free loans.
Minister of Manpower Abdul Latief at the opening ceremony in
his office yesterday said that the program is meant to help the
entrepreneurs correctly produce a feasibility study on their
businesses.
A feasibility study is the deciding factor in which banks
determine whether or not to extend a government loan to a
company, Latief told the 140 participants.
Latief said that small and medium-scale entrepreneurs are
eligible for Rp 50 million collateral free capital loans. Many
such entrepreneurs have not obtained credit due to being unaware
of how to properly apply.
"The weakness of our small-scale entrepreneurs lies in how
they make feasibility studies of their businesses in their
proposals when applying for credit," Latief said.
Latief said he was optimistic that the training would work,
citing that some time ago 80 percent of West Sumatra's small and
medium-scale businesspeople obtained loans after such a course.
Coordinating Minister for Industry and Trade Hartarto, who
opened the course yesterday, said that the government strongly
encourages small and medium-scale enterprises to improve their
businesses in the hope that they would be able to compete in the
ASEAN free market which will start in 2003.
"We realize that the products of small and medium-scale
companies are in fact very competitive," Hartarto told the
participants.
He said he hoped the training would help the participants
understand which products were competitive and therefore make
good proposals, enabling them to secure credit.
"The government is trying to expand the program to the regions
and provide more funds for small and medium-scale
businesspeople," Hartarto said.
Head of the Jakarta office of the Ministry of Manpower, Freddy
Tuamelly, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the participants
were selected from among 200 applicants from the capital city.
The selection was organized in cooperation with the Indonesian
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, he said.
He said the selected participants are from the food, garment,
handicrafts, general trade and health care industries, as well as
service sectors, transportation agencies and publications.
"Participants are mostly from the industrial sector and
service companies such as maid and baby sitter agencies,"
Tuamelly said. (03)