RI, UNIDO sign assistance agreement
RI, UNIDO sign assistance agreement
Zakki P. Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia has signed a technical assistance program with the
United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to
improve its industrial efficiency, boost employment and protect
the environment, said a minister.
The deal, called Country Service Framework (CSF) II, includes
a fund mobilization in a three-year program of up to US$10.51
million from donors, Minister of Industry Andung A. Nitimihardja
said on Wednesday.
"The fund is aimed at developing our small and medium
enterprises, environmentally friendly industries and the
reconstruction of Aceh," Andung said on the sidelines of a
hearing with House of Representatives Commission VI on trade and
industry.
UNIDO's director general Carlos Magarinos and Andung signed
the program last week during the latter's visit to Vienna.
UNIDO, a UN agency tasked with speeding up the
industrialization process in developing countries, and the
government have agreed to undergo 14 technical assistance
projects that would need about $10.51 million in funding for
2005-2007.
The program was a follow-up from the previous CSF I program,
of which some $2.5 million worth of projects have been
implemented, according to the CSF II document, made available to
The Jakarta Post recently.
Under the CSF II, the programs would focus first on supporting
the growth of the private sector and SMEs, then supporting energy
efficiency and environmentally sustainable industrial
development.
Third, it would support the recovery and rehabilitation of
communities in the tsunami-affected areas and post-conflict
areas.
On top of the list, is a program called the industrial
framework formulation with respect to competitiveness, trade
facilitation and environmental impact, with a budget of about
$200,000.
The ministry's director general for transportation equipment
and telematics industries Budhi Darmadhi, who accompanied Andung
to Vienna, said that the formulation program would not put aside
the government's five-year strategic industrial plan, which also
addresses similar issues.
"The (CSF) program would be like fine-tuning our plan," he
told the Post, responding to the question whether the UN agency
doubted the effectiveness of the ministry's strategic plan.
The strategic plan is a road map, or guideline, as to what the
country's industrial sector is trying to accomplish in the next
five years.
According to the document, the major structural weaknesses in
the Indonesian industry which inhibit industrial competitiveness
include a narrow export product base and market, high imported
inputs, lack of technological know-how and low productivity.
The deindustrialization was reflected in the realization of
installed capacity of the manufacturing sector, which stood at 60
percent in 2002, down from pre-crisis level of 80 percent, it
added.