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)