Private enterprise

Private enterprise

The firm measure taken by Minister of Forestry Djamaludin
Suryohadikusumo to organize the forestry industry has been widely
talked about. As reported earlier, the measure has also raised
questions, as well as some anxiety, concerning the possibility
that a new policy towards private business could be in the
making.

The raising of such questions is also due to the fact that in
the wake of the Edy Tansil case, a series of pointed comments
have been aimed at private business. Finally the prospect of
state-owned enterprises (BUMN) participating in the equity and
management of unsound forestry businesses was made public.

A deeper look into the matter, however, will show that the
criticism was legitimate. Support came from the evidence obtained
in the Golden Key Group trial. Participation of BUMNs in
unhealthy forestry businesses is equally well founded,
considering our determination to manage the preservation of our
forests in a more effective and consistent manner.

It is clear that criticism aimed at the corrective measures
taken against private businesses, including the verdicts felled
in the courts, are in no way aimed at undermining the position
and the role of private business in the development of our
economy and our society. On the contrary, efforts are
continuously being made to provide an increasingly conducive
climate for the growth of private enterprise. This has proven to
be the most effective way to promote economic growth and thereby
elevate the living standards of our people.

-- Kompas, Jakarta