LP3ES must find ways to revive its influence

By Rikza Abdullah

JAKARTA (JP): Anyone attending the glamorous 30th anniversary reception of the Institute for Social and Economic Research, Education and Information (LP3ES) at the ballroom of the five- star Hilton Hotel in Jakarta on Monday evening would have thought that the organization, well-known for its prestigious publications, is at its peak.

The reception was attended by some of its founders, such as Coordinating Minister for the Economy Dorodjatun Kuntjoro-Jakti, Supreme Audit Agency chief Satrio B. Joedono, economist Emil Salim, who was a minister for several years during the New Order regime, Nono Anwar Makarim, the institute's first director, Ismid Hadad, the first editor of its scientific journal Prisma and D.G. Wilke of Germany, the institute's first deputy director.

However the performance of the institute, whose activities currently include the publication of scientific books and magazines, research and training, is now on a downward trend due to intellectual fatigue. It therefore needs to be revitalized to develop further.

LP3ES's establishment in 1971 was engineered by student activists involved in the 1966-1967 demonstrations to topple then president Sukarno.

According to Hadad, the student activists intended to use LP3ES to support the government with ideas for national development and criticize it whenever it makes mistakes. It took the developmentalist approach, one based on theories of development and modernization, and its target was the developing of young human resources. As the activists wanted to expand and strengthen the institute's influence, they invited prominent intellectuals, academicians, professionals and technocrats, such as then minister of trade Soemitro Djojohadikusumo, Adam Malik, who was then chairman of the United Nations General Assembly, historian Taufik Abdullah and businessman M. Jusuf Ronodipuro, to become members of its advisory council.

Nono Anwar said the activists initially found procedural difficulties in establishing LP3ES because the government did not allow a private legal organization to be formed under the "institution" category. They, therefore, established an umbrella organization called the Indonesian Group for Economic and Social Development (Bineksos), which then, together with Friederick Naumann Stiftung (FNS) of Germany, formed LP3ES.

All LP3ES's activities during the first 10 years of operation were financed by FNS, whose Jakarta office, was then led by Wilke, a former student activist in Germany. The institution was required to finance its own activities in the following years.

LP3ES started its activities by publishing a scientific magazine, Prisma, presenting prominent figures -- including Soemitro, who was a minister under the governments of both presidents Sukarno and Soeharto, Emil Salim and J. Soedradjad Djiwandono, who later became governor of Bank Indonesia -- as its writers. The magazine generally discussed social and economic issues, including economic development, education, societal health, agricultural economy, technology and industrialization.

"We were proud of Prisma's editions for the 1970s and 1980s, which were used as compulsory reading and a source of reference by intellectuals and university students," commented lawyer Adnan Buyung Nasution.

The circulation of the magazine, which was published bimonthly in the first four years and monthly in the following years, increased from 1,000 copies at the start and peaked to 22,000 copies in Aug. 1977 when it discussed political figures encountered by prominent figures. However, its circulation steadily decreased in the 1990s and its publication ceased in 1998.

Besides the magazine, LP3ES also publishes scientific books and university textbooks. Its books are mostly written in Indonesian by domestic experts and discuss social and economic issues with backgrounds and samples of cases relevant to the Indonesian context. Some of its books are a translation from foreign books discussing issues relevant to Indonesia. As of the middle of this year, LP3ES, through its subsidiary company PT Pustaka LP3ES Indonesia, has released 210 titles of books involving 180 writers and editors.

In research, the institution studies various social and economic subjects with the main aim of formulating innovative programs for development. Some of the results of its research have been used by the government for its development programs.

In the 1970s, for example, it studied a model for development planning in local areas and the result of the study was then adopted by the government in the establishment of provincial offices for development planning (Bappeda). The result of its research on the development of small-scale industries has now been implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in developing small-scale industry centers (PIK) in various parts of the country.

The institute is now carrying out a three-year study on the empowerment of business associations in the country in cooperation with the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Kadin) and the Washington-based Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE).

To meet increasing demands, LP3ES established a consulting company, PT Arthacary Konsultama, in 1995 to provide consulting services to both government and private institutions. However, the company has stopped operating since 1999 due to a scarcity of orders during the present economic crisis.

In line with the decline in its activities, LP3ES has now substantially reduced its staff -- both employees and project- based workers -- from 146 in 1980 to less than 60 at present.

Nono Anwar, who no longer works for LP3ES, said the fact that the institution could survive for 30 years was quite an achievement but it was difficult to believe that such a prestigious organization could subside. "It seems that malaise has reduced its vitality," he said.

Sociologist Ignas Kleden told the participants of the Monday reception that the subsiding of LP3ES was caused mainly by changes in social conditions. On the one hand, the institution emerged as a phenomenon of modernization during the New Order era, while social conditions since the late 1980s has changed to postmodernism.

Modernization was generally marked by centralization of power, rationalism as well as good organization and management, while postmodernism was marked by decentralization of power, pluralism, ignorance of organization and structures and the emergence of demands for the respect of human rights, he said.

"LP3ES has carried out its tasks very well," he said in his speech at the reception. "With its 30 years of traditional work, it will be very difficult for us to demand the institute make radical changes."

However, since the institute has become a valuable asset that has made substantial contributions to the development of the nation, its revitalization will be very important. As, like what Kleden said, demanding the institution make drastic changes will be very difficult. The best way to revitalize it is by inviting a strategic partner who can offer new innovative and creative ideas and be backed by strong financial support. The proposed strategic partner is expected to lead the institution in formulating new activities with innovative and creative strategies in line with the future developments of the nation.