Funding planned for small and medium businesses
Funding planned for small and medium businesses
JAKARTA (JP): The Office of the State Minister of Research and
Technology plans to launch next year a three-year funding scheme
to help empower selected small and medium-scale industries across
the country, an official said here on Monday.
Speaking at a media conference, Freddy P. Zen, the assistant
to the deputy minister of science and technology necessity
analysis, said the scheme, called the Incentive System to Develop
Technology and Management, would be coordinated by the local
administrations, research institutions, universities, non-
governmental organizations (NGOs) and several other
organizations.
According to Freddy, the program will not only provide money
but also information and assistance on raw material supplies,
production systems, distribution management and strategies and
waste management.
In the first year of the scheme, the office of the state
minister will provide some Rp 1.12 billion (US$132,350) to
industries in West, Central and East Java, West Sumatra and West
Nusa Tenggara.
"(The scheme will begin in these locations) because the
industries have already developed, meaning they don't need much
financial help," Freddy said.
The funds for the next two years will be slightly reduced,
based on the assumption the industries will have already begun
seeing some profit after receiving the first-year assistance.
Freddy said the money would not be distributed via the local
administration offices, but through local universities.
"We won't distribute it through local administrations because,
honestly, we're afraid the fund will be corrupted," he said.
A special team, Freddy added, will be formed to continuously
monitor and evaluate the scheme.
The type of small and medium-scale industries to be included
in the scheme varies, ranging from garment manufacturers to
fisheries.
"They are businesses with a lot of potential. Their only
problems are a lack of science and technology knowledge, and also
a lack of assistance from local institutions and universities,"
Freddy said.
The woven cloth industry run by locals in Wanarejan village in
Pemalang, Central Java, for example, is quite developed with some
1,000 people employed in the industry.
"Their products have even been exported to countries in the
Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia," Freddy said.
The problem is that the machines are quite expensive, so the
residents still have to use their 70-year-old machines thus
cutting production.
"But a small industry is not necessarily a low-tech industry.
The metal industry in West Java, for example, is very high tech,"
Freddy said.
The subsidies for small and medium-scale industries, he added,
hopefully can help the economy recover.
"Right now we're applying for presidential aid in order to
cover more regions, including the eastern part of Indonesia," he
said. (09)