Govt team to keep state firms and agencies in line
Govt team to keep state firms and agencies in line
JAKARTA (JP): The special import monitoring team set up on the basis of a presidential decree last week will ensure that government and state company projects remain on track, a senior official said over the weekend.
"Many projects undertaken by state companies to date have deviated from the track of the government's development priority program," said State Minister of National Development Planning Ginandjar Kartasasmita.
Ginandjar said that many government agencies often prefer imported products, which is against government policy.
"Such a tendency can be seen from the large amount of goods imported for their projects. This should be stopped," he told the Kompas daily over the weekend.
President Soeharto last Tuesday issued Decree No. 19/1996, which charges the team with monitoring government projects and those of state companies and making sure that their projects use as many local products as possible.
The special team also has the authority to shelve or reschedule projects which could put pressure on the current account.
Headed by Coordinating Minister for Economy and Finance Saleh Afiff, the team is responsible directly to President Soeharto.
Its members include the finance minister, the state minister of national development planning/chairman of the National Development Planning Board, the minister of industry and trade and the governor of Bank Indonesia.
Synergy
Ginandjar noted that the basic principle of the presidential decree is to improve the synergy between state company projects and the government's development program.
Until now, every state company project has only been subject to the approval of commissioners. There have been no guarantees that projects are undertaken in support of the nation.
He added that the team will also try to curb unnecessary imports by encouraging the use of local products for government (and state company) projects.
Minister of Finance Mar'ie Muhammad concurred that the presidential decree was issued keep tabs on the current account deficit, which is expected to rise sharply to US$8 billion in the current fiscal year, and to cool down the overheating economy.
Ginandjar said the commissioners of state companies generally are not effective in keeping their activities in line with the government's objectives.
Inadequate supervision is often the result of commissioners who do not understand the government's development program, he said.
The minister said that from now on every state company project will be subject to the team's assessment before it can be implemented.
"By so doing, we can guarantee that those projects will be kept in line with the government's development program," he noted.
The policy is necessary to strengthen the country's economic self-reliance and prevent it from being too dependent on imports. It will also help promote state companies as a market for local products, he added.
"We have a large number of state companies (more than 200). If they can serve as the market for our own products, then we'll have many advantages to strengthen our economy," he said. (13)