Soeharto outlines poverty alleviation plan

Soeharto outlines poverty alleviation plan

JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto outlined yesterday a detailed
course of action the country should pursue to combat poverty,
calling for partnership between big and small enterprises and
cooperatives.

Soeharto chaired yesterday the first limited cabinet meeting
on poverty alleviation, and decided to hold the meeting every
three months.

Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto
and Minister of Information Harmoko said Soeharto underlined the
need for better management of credits for small and medium
enterprises.

"Credits should also be managed efficiently so that they reach
the deserving parties... (and) don't become overdue," Soeharto
was quoted by Hartarto as saying.

The President also instructed the ministries of industry and
trade, cooperatives, and the office of the Minister of Investment
to encourage supermarkets in Indonesia's 240 regencies to
cooperate with small and medium enterprises and cooperatives.

Soeharto instructed the National Development Planning Board to
create a system to ensure that small and medium enterprises can
compete in development project bids.

The President regularly holds a monthly cabinet meeting on
economic affairs. Coordinating ministers for economy and finance,
for production and distribution, and for people's welfare hold
separate preparatory meetings beforehand.

Yesterday's meeting, which lasted for four and a half hours,
was "proof of the government's seriousness in combating poverty,"
Harmoko said.

The cabinet meeting also agreed to urge big companies to
provide special vocational training for job seekers.

"If each big company trains 100 people annually, it will be
very helpful in stepping up the quality of our human resources,"
said Hartarto.

He said great progress had been made in reducing the number of
people living below the poverty line. "It significantly dropped
from 25.9 million (13.7 percent) to 22.5 million (11.3 percent)
in 1996," he said.

The government launched a special poverty alleviation program
in 1994 for least-developed villages, called the Presidential Aid
for Least-Developed Villages (IDT), in which each poor village
received Rp 20 million (US$8,390). In this fiscal year, the
government has allocated Rp 479 billion to 22 least-developed
villages.

President Soeharto also established the Dana Sejahtera Mandiri
Foundation, which received funds from conglomerates. The
foundation provides subsidized loans for poor families. (06)