Postal company takes on a new 'social mission'

Postal company takes on a new 'social mission'

JAKARTA (JP): PT Indosat, which provides international
telecommunication services, has handed over the management of its
financial assistance for cooperatives and small-scale companies
to Perum Pos and Giro, the state-owned postal company.

Indosat President Tjahjono Suryodibroto said yesterday that
the transfer of management of the financial aid, worth Rp 26.7
billion (US$12.41 million), was made as the company was no longer
owned by the government 100 percent.

A state company is required to set aside between one to five
percent of its net earning to support the development of small-
scale companies and cooperatives in the country. The financial
aid is often considered a mandatory 'social mission' of a state-
owned firm.

"Indosat will remain committed to providing financial aid to
small-scale firms and cooperatives but essential funds will be
taken from part of the government's dividends," he told newsmen
following the signing of the agreement on the transfer of the
financial assistance.

The signing of the agreement was witnessed by Minister of
Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave.

Indosat, which sold around 35 percent of its shares to foreign
and local investors in October, is listed on the Jakarta,
Surabaya and New York stock exchanges.

The company has so far provided financial assistance worth Rp
26.7 billion to 3,404 small companies and cooperatives.

Tjahjono said that operations of small-scale companies and
cooperatives receiving financial aid from Indosat have been very
encouraging.

"Some of them even received awards of appreciation from the
government for their achievements," he said, adding that the
financial assistance was provided in coordination with private
and state-owned companies as well as with government agencies
such as the Family Planning Coordinating Board.

He said the financial aid carried an interest rate of six
percent per annum and that repayment of the soft loan was also
recycled for the financing of similar projects.

"The loan repayment has reached Rp 400 million at present," he
said.

Perum Pos dan Giro's president, Marsoedi, said the postal
company has so far provided financial assistance amounting to
around Rp 6.5 billion to small-scale companies and cooperatives,
much smaller than those provided by Indosat.(hen)