RI to set up national information infrastructure

JAKARTA (JP): Professionals, academic experts and executives of private and state-owned companies are expected to cooperate in establishing a high-tech information infrastructure to improve competitiveness of Indonesian businesses, an executive says.

The president of the state-owned domestic telecommunications company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom), Setyanto P. Santosa, told The Jakarta Post here yesterday that the planned development of the national information infrastructure (NII) will be vital for accelerating business development in the country.

He said information and telecommunications technologies are very important to support activities of service and manufacturing industries.

He said that developed countries, including the United States, can penetrate the markets of other nations with the support of their powerful information technology.

"In a speech early last year, U.S. President (Bill) Clinton mentioned the necessity of an electronics superhighway for the entire world," he said.

According to Setyanto, Indonesia is quite well-known for its breakthrough in telecommunications, including its satellite communications system introduced in 1977, digital telecommunications network developed in the early 1980s, fiber optic construction and the global system for mobile telecommunications network telecommunications.

He said that telecommunications development will always be lucrative, which will win financial support from banks.(icn)