Protection still needed for vital industries

Protection still needed for vital industries

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Cooperatives and Small Enterprises
Subiakto Tjakrawerdaya says protection is still needed to enable
important industries to compete in the free trade era in five
years time.

"If we do not protect selected products, we'll lose to
competition. Other countries will continue protectionism by
giving subsidies," Subiakto was quoted by Antara as saying
Thursday in Ujung Pandang, South Sulawesi.

He said Indonesia should develop the domestic market under the
principle of "regulated openness".

"Openness has to be regulated to control the speed of change
and its consequences," he said at a discussion on the draft 1998
State Guidelines, sponsored by the ruling Golkar.

Subiakto said Indonesia should use its comparative edge to
compete in the global market in the free trade era.

He said Indonesia's comparative advantages were a large
potential market, a lot of small, middle and big businesses and
vast tracts of productive land for agribusiness.

"We have to first and foremost control and develop all our
comparative advantages," he said.

Another speaker at the workshop, I Putu Gde Ary Suta, chairman
of the Stock Exchange Supervisory Board, said the globalization
process of the financial sector and bourses would speed up in the
21th century.

He said the process would create cross-border markets, change
investment patterns, law enforcement, financial products, enhance
international cooperation and give birth to young professionals,
said Putu.

The workshop also featured Minister of Investment/Chairman of
the Investment Coordinating Board Sanjoto Sastrowardoyo and
Chairwoman of Golkar's central office Siti Hardiyanti Rukmana.
(jsk)