New chief economy minister to directly rule state firms
New chief economy minister to directly rule state firms
JAKARTA (JP): Coordinating Minister for the Economy Rizal
Ramli said on Tuesday his office would be directly in charge of
the country's 155 state enterprises.
He said the government had decided to establish a special body
under his office which would oversee the development of state
concerns.
"This way, we can expect a faster and more effective
privatization process of state companies," he said after a media
meeting.
The development of state enterprises was previously held by
the state ministry of investment and state enterprises
development.
The government dissolved the state ministry as a result of
President Abdurrahman Wahid's streamlining of his Cabinet. He
said members of the body would comprise all ministers who had
state enterprises operating in their respective fields.
These would include, among others, Minister of Trade and
Industry Luhut Pandjaitan; Minister of Energy and Mineral
Resources Purnomo Yusgiantoro; Minister of Finance Prijadi
Praptosuhardjo; Minister of Transportation and Telecommunications
Agum Gumelar; and Minister of Agriculture and Forestry Bungaran
Saragih.
Rizal said he would ask the office of the former state
ministry to submit a review of the current progress in the
privatization of state enterprises.
The government expects to raise some Rp 6.5 trillion (US$790
million) from the privatization of 10 state firms during the
April-December 2000 fiscal year.
Nevertheless, thus far none of the targeted state firms have
been privatized, as the government says it is waiting for the
right market sentiment.
Separately, Riza Primadi, deputy at the now defunct state
ministry of investment and state enterprises development, said he
had just heard of the plan to place the state enterprises under
Rizal's office.
"We'll likely hear more about it tomorrow; the government has
a way of letting the public know before they tell us," he told
The Jakarta Post.
Riza described the move as a compromise on whether state firms
should be controlled by an independent ministry, like his office
once did, or by related ministries.
"But what is important is that the operator and regulator
should not fall into one man's hands," he explained.
Riza said the government might mix its role as a regulator of
the economy with its responsibility for developing state firms.
"This would create an unequal playing field between state-
owned companies and private companies," he explained.
Furthermore, he said, the different ministries on the board
might cause problems when they interfered with the current
privatization process.
"It's better to have one commando who understands the entire
privatization process," he said.
He suggested that the special body study the existing
privatization master plan, which contains all the information
required to complete this year's privatization targets.
The chief minister did not explain the fate of the government
agency which handles foreign investments, which was previously
put under the office of the state minister for investments and
state enterprises development. (bkm)