Soedradjad: LP3ES should make constructive efforts to survive

Soedradjad: LP3ES should make constructive efforts to survive

J. Soedradjad Djiwandono is a former governor of Bank
Indonesia and currently a senior visiting research fellow at the
Institute of Southeast Asian Studies (ISEAS) of Singapore. He was
one of many people conveying their congratulations in a
publication released on the 30th anniversary of the LP3ES
research institute. The following are excerpts of his statement
sent to LP3ES.

JAKARTA: The Institute for Social and Economic Research,
Education and Information (LP3ES) was established 30 years ago by
a number of people highly concerned about the development of our
society's social and economic life. They were previously grouped
together in the Indonesian Group for Economic and Social
Development (Bineksos), which was formed some time earlier.

They consisted of intellectuals, journalists and
businesspeople, including Prof. Soemitro Djojohadikusumo, Satrio
B. Joedono, Emil Salim, Suhadi Mangkusuwondo, Jusuf Ronodipuro,
Nono Anwar Makarim and Djunaidi Hadisumarto. All of them had a
common vision and ambition to support the development of
research, education and information on Indonesia's social and
economic affairs. I was a member of Bineksos and I took part in
the election of LP3ES executives on several occasions.

My involvement in LP3ES started a few months before its
establishment when I joined a group of intellectuals,
businesspeople and journalists, on the invitation of Frederick
Naumann Stiftung (FNS) to visit Germany for about two weeks in
May 1971.

I was then working for the National Institute for Economic and
Social Affairs (Leknas), a research affiliate of the Indonesian
Institute of Sciences (LIPI). At the same time, I was also
assistant to the then minister of trade Sumitro Djojohadikusumo,
who assigned me to act as his liaison officer to minister of
information Budiardjo.

In Germany, we had discussions for some days in Bonn with
staff members of FNS about social and economic problems and
challenges encountered by Indonesia. We talked about how to
develop research, education and information on social and
economic affairs in Indonesia with assistance from FNS.

After the establishment of Bineksos, LP3ES was set up in
August 1971 with Nono Anwar Makarim as its first director. His
successors included Dawam Rahardjo, Ismid Hadad, Tawang Alun,
Aswab Mahasin and Imam Ahmad.

LP3ES then published books, coordinated research and published
a magazine Prisma. The magazine printed various experts' articles
on their studies, analysis and views on Indonesian social and
economic affairs and LP3ES used the magazine effectively in
carrying out its mission.

As a devout fan of Prisma, I still mourn the discontinuation
of its publication. I also regret that during its publication
period, I only wrote two articles for it. I sincerely hope that
Prisma can be published again.

Prisma was an excellent magazine and among magazines of a
similar caliber such as Ekonomi Keuangan Indonesia (Indonesian
Monetary Economy) and Manajemen dan Usahawan (Management and
Businesspeople) published by the Faculty of Economics of the
University of Indonesia and Basis from Yogyakarta, Prisma had its
own outstanding position.

Besides reading its magazine, I also kept in contact with
LP3ES through its research activities. When I became junior
minister of trade (1988-1993), we cooperated in research for the
development of small-scale businesses. One year before my
ministerial post ended, LP3ES published my book entitled
Perdagangan dan Pembangunan: Tantangan, Peluang dan Kebijaksanaan
Perdagangan Luar Negeri (Trade and Development: Challenges,
Opportunities and Policies on Foreign Trade).

When I was working with Bank Indonesia, I asked LP3ES to
assign a team of writers under the coordination of economist
Dawam Rahardjo to compose a book on the central bank based on
materials provided by its divisions. The book, entitled Bank
Indonesia dalam Kilasan Sejarah Bangsa (Bank Indonesia in the
History of the Nation), was printed by LP3ES in August 1995.

(Upon my dismissal as Bank Indonesia governor), I ... told
president Soeharto that I would write a book on Indonesia's
economic crisis, how it developed and the policies taken by the
government to overcome it. I assigned LP3ES as its publisher.

In the current economic environment, where the ups and downs,
the merging and the splitting of companies are seen as routine
events, I hope that there is still a constructive emotional drive
to sustain the survival of LP3ES.

This institution, in its operation as a business entity, must
be ready to face competition and be able to act like other
businesses. Even though its mission makes it different from other
businesses that can make quick changes, LP3ES must not move
backwards or even disappear.

Research, education and information on social and economic
affairs is the respectable task of LP3ES, the institution
therefore, must be able to survive any turbulence and crisis. It
must continue to steadfastly carry out its mission -- building a
new Indonesia as a sustainable civilized society. (Rikza
Abdullah)