New assistance program

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of Industry and Trade has launched a Technical Assistance and Training Program to help small and medium-scale companies.

The program's project manager Albert Batti said the project, which is financed through a US$5.75 million loan from the World Bank and the Indonesian government, small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs), as well as cooperatives, would be given training and consultation on information technology (IT).

The program will also provide soft loans to SMEs that want to use IT in their businesses, he said.

"It is aimed to increase the competitiveness of local small and medium-scale businesses by using IT to increase their efficiency and productivity, to reduce costs and to open new businesses," he added.

Batti said the World Bank and the ministry expected about 400 training and loan contracts, involving 4,000 SMEs, could be signed in the coming four years.

In the initial stages, the program will be focused in Jakarta, Bandung in West Java, Semarang in Central Java, Surabaya in East Java, Medan in North Sumatra and Ujungpandang in South Sulawesi, he said. (gis)