Open tenders

Open tenders

Your paper often publishes advertisements by PT Total Indonesie openly inviting bidders to take part in a tender. I think this way of announcing a tender is laudable. It is a foreign company and it abides by the democratic way of doing business in Indonesia.

I would like to call on everyone of us to engage in healthy competition. I don't believe in the perception that competition kills weaker entrepreneurs. On the contrary, competition should encourage the weak to learn from experience and how to survive.

President Soeharto in his New Year's address stated that openness should not only be applied in politics but in the economy. This implies that everybody is supposed to have the same economic opportunities and access to information.

We should also uphold a code of ethics. When business ethics prevail, practices of collusion are minimized.

Do open tenders in Indonesia reflect openness in the economy? Do companies here which have gone public conduct open tenders in the media? Even though I do not understand the entire tender procedure, I have my doubts.

PORIAMAN SITANGGANG

Jakarta