Soeharto sets up team for info superhighway
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto has set up a team comprising 14 cabinet ministers to help usher Indonesia into the information superhighway era.
The team, headed by Coordinating Minister for Production and Distribution Hartarto, was founded by Presidential Decree No. 30 issued July 31.
It aims to find synergy between the information and telecommunications sectors, or what the decree terms Telematika after the Indonesian words Telekomunikasi and Informatika.
"The team will draw up policies to develop Telematika and monitor its progress," Hartarto said in a written speech to open the Indocomtech 97 computer exhibition.
In the speech, read by his assistant Ikhyar Musa, the minister said a concerted effort was needed to tap the potentials of the information superhighway.
Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications Joop Ave was appointed deputy chairman of the team. Other members are state minister of research and technology, minister/state secretary, minister of home affairs, minister of defense and security, minister of information, minister of finance, state minister of national development planning, minister of trade and industry, minister of education and culture, minister of manpower, state minister of administrative reform and minister of investment.
The team will also handle the Nusantara 21 megaproject to develop the nation's infrastructure in telecommunications, multimedia and information technology.
Under the N21, six information broadband rings will be built in Java, Sumatra, Kalimantan, Maluku/Iran, and Nusa Tenggara. They will be connected to Indonesia's Palapa satellites.
The project is likened to the ONE project being developed by Singapore and the MSC by Malaysia.
Indocomtech 97, which concludes Monday, showcases the local computer industry.
The Indonesian Computer Business Association (Apkomindo), which organized the exhibition, appealed to its members yesterday to keep the increase in computer prices to the minimum so as not to discourage people from buying.
Dealers have been under pressure to raise their prices because of the rupiah's recent depreciation against the dollar.
The local computer industry is still largely confined to assembling imported components which were purchased in dollars.
Some dealers have said they would increase prices by between 10 percent and 20 percent.
About 110 companies are taking part in the exhibition, which is expected to attract more than 200,000 visitors. (08)