RI-Netherlands Forum to discuss role of small firms
RI-Netherlands Forum to discuss role of small firms
JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesia-Netherlands Forum (FINED), a
nongovernmental organization based in Jakarta, and its Dutch
counterpart, the Netherlands-Indonesia Forum (FNI), will hold
their third annual meeting in Surabaya from Dec. 17 to Dec. 19.
FINED's chief executive Frans Seda said here yesterday the
meeting would focus on efforts to help small and medium
businesses in both countries.
He said the meeting would be used as a way to exchange
experiences and ideas to encourage small business activities
between the two countries.
Seda, a former minister of finance, noted that last year FINED
sent 20 small-scale entrepreneurs to the Netherlands to join its
second meeting in Rotterdam.
"During their visit, the entrepreneurs could see the way small
businesses in the Netherlands worked," he said.
Besides discussing ways to promote small businesses, the
meeting will discuss various topics such as politics, the
economy, education and human resources, social and cultural
issues, science and technology and natural resources and ecology.
"The meeting will also focus on water management and business
law. The Netherlands is a successful country in managing water
resources. We should learn from them," he said.
Seda said the meeting would also discuss ways to improve the
implementation of business law, which is considered to be very
much needed in Indonesia.
FINED and FNI were established simultaneously in Indonesia and
the Netherlands in January 1995.
"The forums are nongovernmental, nonpolitical and nonprofit
oriented. They are meant to create a dialog between the two
peoples," Seda said.
He said that so far, FINED and FNI are cooperating well in
many fields. In the areas of health care, culture and education,
the organizations have sent Indonesian nurses to train in Dutch
hospitals, built a hospital for the nearly-blind in Bogor,
renovated Indonesia's national archive building in Jakarta, and
provided scholarships and work training for Indonesian young
people in Dutch companies.
According to Seda, trade between the two countries has so far
favored Indonesia, which had a trade surplus of US$1.1 billion
last year.
Indonesia's exports to the Netherlands reached $1.6 billion
last year, with imports valued at $493 million.
Indonesia's main exports to the Netherlands comprise of crude
palm oil, garments, palm oil kernel, and copper, while its
imports from the Netherlands are pulp and waste paper,
agricultural machinery and parts, and paper and paperboard. (gis)