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