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)