Habibie offers help to small enterprises
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)