Govt to launch microfinancing year
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The government is set to kick off the Year of the Micro Business and will allocate Rp 50 trillion (US$5.4 billion) to empower micro, small and medium enterprises nationwide, a minister says.
"The official announcement on the national campaign will be made by President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in a ceremony on Saturday," Coordinating Minister for the Economy Aburizal Bakrie said on Wednesday.
Aburizal said 99.9 percent of the 42 million businesses across the country were either micro, small or medium enterprises.
The government hoped the fund, which was created in line with a United Nations-led program for small businesses, could help reduce the poverty rate from 16.6 percent to a target of 8.2 percent and the unemployment rate from 9.7 percent to 5.1 percent.
State Minister of Cooperatives and Small and Medium Enterprises Suryadharma Ali said small-scale businesses in the country faced five main problems -- access to financial institutions; a high-cost economy; lack of capacity in technology, lack of good management and entrepreneurship; unfair and stiff competition from larger competitors; and a lack of industry associations.
"Therefore, the government has prepared four strategies of developing the micro, small and medium enterprises, supporting systems for the enterprises, empowering the businesses and exploring the market," he said.
The campaign chairman, Bank Republik Indonesia (BRI) president director Rudjito, said an exhibition by 170 micro, small and medium enterprises taking part in schemes by the State Minister of State Enterprises and regional administrations would mark the year's official beginning.
"The campaign will be held continuously in 12 host cities," he said.
Separately, a representative of the Indonesian Business Development Services (BDS) in Aceh, Nuzul said that 60 fishermen in Leupeung, Aceh Besar, and 30 snack producers in Lampaseh, Banda Aceh, would need about Rp 40 million (US$4,331) to reconstruct a coastal pond, which supplied their businesses.
"And they will probably also need about Rp 30 million to buy 20 small boats," he said.
Speaking at a workshop held by BDS and Save the Children, Nuzul said many Acehnese survivors could not afford their daily expenses because they still lived in refugee camps.
SME ministry official Muhammad Taufiq said the office had allocated about Rp 80 billion for the redevelopment of SMEs in Aceh alone.
"We are encouraging financial institutions to work together to create employment in Aceh, especially in the real sector, and to help increase the purchasing power of the local people," he said.
Taufiq also said that in an effort to help surviving SMEs, banks should solve problems related to existing non-performing loans.
"The central bank is studying the possibility of refinancing SMEs, rescheduling their debts or even writing them off," he said.
National Development Planning Board (Bappenas) deputy official for regional autonomy Sudjana Royat urged the government and business groups to create business opportunities for Acehnese SMEs this year. (004)