Habibie offers help to small enterprises
JAKARTA (JP): State Minister of Research and Technology B.J. Habibie has given assurances that his office is ready to provide assistance for the technological development of small and medium enterprises.
"I'm ready to provide anything, from drinking water, carbohydrates and vitamins to electronics and satellites--just anything," Habibie said at the 43rd anniversary of the Association of Indonesian Engineers at the Shangri-La Hotel on Friday evening.
The minister said that his office is providing funds for integrated prime research for both state and private companies wishing to develop the technology needed for the production of quality products.
"Small- and medium-size companies can use the funds to develop their technology," Habibie said. However, he did not elaborate on how small companies can get the funds.
Habibie said that he aims to develop small and medium enterprises, which are based on high technology, so that "the strength of the country's economy will no longer rely on big companies but on high-tech-based small ones."
"That's the reason why I'm developing strategic industries," Habibie, who also heads the Agency for the Management of Strategic Industries, said.
The agency overseas 10 strategic companies -- Bandung-based aircraft manufacturer PT IPTN, Surabaya-based shipbuilding company PT PAL, engineering firms PT Bosma Bisma Indra and PT Bharata, electronics manufacturer PT LEN, military equipment manufacturer PT Pindad, railway equipment producer PT Inka, telecommunications equipment manufacturer PT Inti, steel producer PT Krakatau Steel and explosives manufacturer PT Dhahana.
However, according to the World Bank's report in 1993, most of the strategic companies under the agency were running inefficiently.
Habibie admitted, at a hearing with the House of Representatives' Technology and Development Planning Commission earlier this year, that his first four strategic industries were still inefficient and suffering financial losses. He did not disclose the size of the losses.
He acknowledged over the weekend that Indonesia is still suffering deficits in its current account payments, partly because it makes a significant investment in strategic industries, which for some period of time would not be able to make profits.
This fiscal year's current account deficit is projected to grow to almost US$5 billion from the $3.56 billion estimated in 1994-1995 and $2.94 billion in 1993-94.
However, Habibie said, some time in the future, strategic industries will bring significant contributions to the country's export earnings.
He predicted that by 2019, the end of the official second long-term development planning period, Indonesia's exports will quintuple to US$190 billion, from last year's level of $38 billion.
"We will reach this as long as we can provide ample human resources to develop our science and technology and keep the continuity of our development with ever-increasing efficiency," Habibie said. "So, the key for all is human resources and our strength on the micro-economy, science and technology."
While attending the anniversary, Habibie also presented awards to this year's winners of the Association of Indonesian Engineers engineering awards.
They were I Gede Wenten, a chemical engineering lecturer at the Bandung Institute of Technology; Eko Budhiardjo, the dean of the engineering school of the Semarang-based Diponegoro University; Kuntoro Mangkusubroto, the director general of mines at the Ministry of Mines and Energy; Sudarman Sellang, the president of PT Dok dan Perkapalan Surabaya; Kusnan Nuryadi, vice president of PT Bukaka Teknik Utama; and Fram Bernard Daru, a senior engineer at PT LEN. (rid)